KPJ5 - The Mew Chronicles
by LemurKat
Summary: Loki's lust for power has grown, and now he wants to become a God. Can anything be done to prevent disaster and destruction?
1. Default Chapter

# Rrearing Flora

Siryntown was a picturesque city, with its tall, old-style architecture and cathedrals, arches and fountains. The university especially was a nice place in terms of aesthetics. The old English style buildings were set in the acres of garden and there was even a very small zoo.

It was here that I sat, upon a low stone wall, talking to Fenrill, the swamp Mew.

"I don't see why the urgency," I said, "Ozmos is going to have her pups soon and I want them to be born in a proper place, not on the road somewhere."

__

"Can't you just leave her here," the little pink cat queried, chasing her tail, _"I don't wish to alarm you, but I am very worried about my family, my sisters."_ A single tear trickled down her cheek. I reached out and patted her on the head.

"I know, but I just want to be with her when she has the pups," I said, "she's been my friend for so long and I don't want to leave her when she needs me most."

__

"I understand," she said sadly. And I knew that she was sad not only because she missed her sisters, but also because she could never have pups of her own. It was rough being immortal.

I stood up and stretched, staring across at the cages filled with animals. I felt sorry for them, although they were here for research purposes, it still seemed cruel to incarcerate them. Doctor Warwick, my mentor, had explained to me how they were here because they could no longer survive in the wild. They were true animals, all of them, from the spotted Genet to the tiny Bushbaby and the Chipmunk. He was studying how the introduction of Pokemon had reduced the population of these animals to next to nothing. Extinction was a terrible thing. They were being preserved here, merely because there was no other place to put them. They could not be put back in the wild, where they would be killed by Pokemon, so they were doomed to live their lives here, in captivity. Some of the students at the university were sitting around, watching them, sketching them, noting their behaviour. They compared them to Pokemon that were extant (opposite of extinct) and sought differences. It was of great fascination to many scientists how Pokemon actually worked – how they managed to blow fire or water or create storms. I personally thought it's origins lay in magic, a force which had been reawakened in the land when the Pokemon had first appeared.

I reached out and patted Fenrill on the head. "Come on, girl," I said, "let's see how they're doing?"

"_I am no girl,_" Fenrill replied telepathically, _"I am as old as the waterways, the swamps, the rivers…_"

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling abashed. I made my way back down the paved pathway towards the main library. A few of the students glanced up at me as I walked past, but they more or less ignored me. I was a good three years younger than the youngest of them, being now fifteen years of age. Kameron had turned sixteen two weeks ago and was basking in his new found maturity. He was sitting in the quad outside the Mathematics Department, playing ball with Azriel. In one hand he held an Item Ball, which he tossed into the air, where the Eevee promptly leapt up and grabbed it in his mouth, throwing it back. Beneath the bench, a pair of red eyes glowed, Shadeon, unable to be far from Kameron (who carried her pokeball) hid from the brightness of the day.

"What's up?" Kameron asked, rolling the ball down his arm and flicking it into the air, where Azriel promptly leapt up, missed it and had it roll across the stones.

"Fenrill wants us to move on," I said, sitting down beside him. He patted me on the knee. 

"You want to too, don't you?" He asked, "I can tell."

I nodded, "I get restless hanging around the same place for too long, I think things changed after our last adventure, and I want the new one to get underway."

"Ozmos will have her kits today or tomorrow," he informed me. It was not just a reassuring piece of information. It was likely to be a fact.

As if on cue, Fenrill's bright blue eyes suddenly glinted. "_It is time,_" she said, and neither of us questioned her psychic abilities.

Recalling Shadeon and scooping up Azriel, Kameron and I began running towards the dormitory room that I occupied. Luckily I had private quarters, for Pokemon running wild in someone's bedroom was not generally considered good form. Ozmos lay in a large basket in the warmest corner of the room. She had dragged in old scraps of cloth to make a rough nest and in here she now lay, a look of intense concentration and pain on her face. Florion stood beside her, whimpering reassuringly and nudging her with his cold nose. It was wonderful to see such love and dedication in something that was not human.

Ozmos was whimpering and in a semi-vicious mood, but she still sniffed my hand and licked me, when I put it out for her, to show her I was here. Her sides heaved as she birthed her first pup. The tiny creature screamed as it entered the world, a full-throated bawl not unlike that of a baby. Kameron grasped my hand as the emotions of the mother, mingled with my joy and Fenrill's sad longings overwhelmed him. Empathy could be such a curse sometimes, especially when you couldn't turn it off. 

We watched in quiet amazement as Ozmos gave birth to another five pups, all of which welcomed the daylight with lusty cries, moving blindly crawling upwards to suckle their first milk. And then, when we had thought she must be quiet finished and Florion was licking her head enthusiastically, she squeezed one more time, pushing out a pathetic gold-coloured bundle, wet from the womb, and flopped over, drooping in exhaustion. The last pup, number seven, did not move.

"There's something odd with these pups," Kameron stated, as he stood beside me, putting his arm about my waist. "They're not Eevees."

And indeed they were not, but that was not my concern at the moment, my concern was that last pup, the still one. I picked it up, and Ozmos barely even noticed. It looked absolutely nothing like an Eevee and had very little similarity to the other pups either, being a dirty brownish-gold colour. It was still in my hands. I wiped away the birth-sac from its fur but still it did not seem to breathe, did not appear to even be alive. With concern rising from the pit of my stomach, I could not bear to see any animal denied life before they had the chance to live it, I sat down on the bed and held it in my hand, belly up. Its tiny legs sprawled pathetically. And then, as I had seen them do on television and been taught how to do in a First Aid class, I covered its tiny muzzle with my lips, making sure its mouth was open first, and tried to breathe life into it.

There was no reaction. Kameron, noticing the tears in my eyes, sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders once more, but made no further move so as not to hinder me.

But I, as you all know by now, am not one to give in easily. I tried mouth-to-mouth again, and, the fifth time, I thought I could feel its tiny heart beating stronger. It wriggled in my hand. I held it there for a few moments, letting the warmth of my hands and my healing abilities bring further life into it, then I carefully knelt down beside Ozmos, removing the biggest of the pups, and attaching the runt to the nipple. It clamped on immediately, seeking the milk as urgently as any child.

Feeling somewhat emotionally drained partly from relief, I then collapsed on the bed beside Kameron. He leaned over me and kissed me lightly on the lips, not seeming to mind the fact I had just given mouth-to-mouth to a baby … something.

"_You really do love them, don't you?"_ Fenrill sent, bouncing on the bed beside us and chasing her tail. "_I am glad I chose you, and I am glad we waited._"

"Thank you," I said to the Mew, flailing out with one hand to pat her. "It means a lot to me, and in a few days, we can go and find your sisters."

__

"You must wait until your child is well," she replied, much to my surprise, "_another week will not do great harm."_

Unfortunately, later that night I found the runt lying in the corner of the basket again, nearly dead. It had been pushed away by its more boistrous siblings. Placing it in my dressing gown pocket, I hastened to fill a hotwater bottle, which I covered with a towel and placed the baby on that. Then, with as much speed as I could manage, I rushed down to Doctor Warwick's Office.

As usual, he was up late, marking essays.

"Hey there Kataryna," he greeted me, smiling warmly, "how may I help you today? And why are you wearing your pajamas and a dressing gown?"

"I need to learn how to hand-rear a baby Pokemon," I said urgently, "right now!"

Recognising the urgency in my voice, Doctor Frances deemed it unecessary to beat around the bush. "Ok," he said, "one of Ozmos's I trust?"

"Yes, the youngest."

"So I need to know how to hand read an Eevee," he mused, "I'd say, you need a combination of this much Mirutank milk and this much water." He scrawled something down on a piece of paper, "plus a touch of malt, for taste."

"It's not an eevee," I pointed out, "but it should work anyway!"

"Not an Eevee," I heard him mutter as I departed as though my feet were winged, "what would it be there?"

The infant was slightly better when I returned, it seemed a little more alive. Kameron was not there of course, it was approaching midnight and for some obscure reason they wouldn't let the two of us share a dorm. I had made a side-track on the way downstairs to collect a syringe (one still in its wrapper) from the laboratory, and this I filled with the mixture of milk, water and malt. Holding the baby carefully in one hand, I dripped the liquid onto its lips and its tiny pink tongue flicked out, seeming to invigorate it and it suddenly latched forcefully onto the syringe, emptying it quickly. I filled the syringe twice more before the baby finally stopped suckling and curled up, falling asleep in my hand.

Now I could examine it carefully, I saw that it looked nothing like any Eeveelution I had ever seen before. Its fur, now dry from the birth process, was a dull gold, banded with black like a bumble bee. Around its neck was studded with what appeared to be buds, such as were found on Chiko's neck. A black tuft of hair rested between two extremely ill-proportioned ears and its tail looked not disimilar to its father's. The other infants were unlike Eevees too, but they simply bore resemblance to the Eevee equivalent of a Vaporeon or a Florion, or with some features of both, none were as amazing different as this wee mite. If the ones with features of both were hybrids, then what was this one? Which had features of neither? Pondering this for a moment, but too weary to do anything further, I placed the infant against Maki and Kiki, who were asleep in a basket atop the bedside table. Maki muttered sleepily, blinked his golden eyes at me and wrapped his barred tail about the child, before dozing off again.

Sighing, I set my alarm clock for four hours time, and dozed off, knowing that I would soon have to wake once more to feed the little mite.

*

Two days later, and the little pup was still doing well. I however, was not so good. The continually disturbed sleeps, the continual worry, I was beginning to feel like a mother aged only fifteen years of age! Kameron helped me out where he could, but he'd got himself a job working at a local petrol station and could not stay up erratic hours. I was haggard, irritable and not a lot of fun to be around! The other pups were doing just fine, putting on weight and their eyes were starting to focus. 

Doctor Warwick came to visit them with a veterinarian student and gave each of them a thorough going over. It appeared both the Vaporeon look-a-likes were female, and the others were all male, bar the little mite I was hand-rearing. It was also a female. This lead to some interesting speculation about what wild Florions were like. It appeared they had been seen in the wild indeed!

"Excuse me Kat," Doctor Warwick knocked on my door.

"Yes?" I asked a little grumpily, "what is it?"

"There's someone here who says its really important that she talks to you."

I rolled my eyes. "Very well then. Send her in."

He ducked off and appeared a few moments later with an attractive young lady. She had chopped her rainbow-coloured hair mostly off, but it was still obvious whom it was.

"Freyja?" I stepped back. "I don't want anything to do with you! What in Hades name are you doing here? What is she doing here Frances? She's trouble!"

Freyja scuffed her feet awkwardly on the carpet. "I need your help," she muttered, staring at the ground.

"Why ever would you expect me to help you? You've been our nemesis all along, you've tried to steal my Pokemon, tried to hurt me, almost killed both of us and we're nothing but enemies! Get out of here before I call security!" Now, usually I am a fairly understanding person, but you've got to realise that lack of sleep, the stress of being mother to a small furry animal and the fact that she had been nothing but trouble for us, all amounted to making me just want to get rid of her.

"Um, Kat," Doctor Frances Warwick ventured, "would you like me to fetch Kameron for you?"

It was not a foolish suggestion. Kameron could tell if she was genuine or if she was just trying to manipulate us.

"Yes please," I said. Then I noticed Freyja was almost crying. Her green eyes were red and brimming with tears. "Now," I turned my attention on her once more, "tell me, why are you asking me for help?"

"It's Loki," she said softly, "he's gone power hungry. I always knew he was bad, but he's finally decided to claim his rightful place as boss of Team Rocket."

"His rightful place?" She had my attention now!

"Um, yeah," she said, all but mumbling. "His father was Giovanni, and despite the fact that he didn't seem to want this known whilst his father was still boss, he has claimed now that he should rightfully be the Boss."

"So what?" I asked. "If not him, then someone else would do it." I moved into my room and started mixing formula for the baby.

"You don't get it," she said, "he thinks he rules it all, all of us and can tell us what to do, when and how." She hesitated and stared at her hands. "He wanted me to marry him, but I could never do that. And when I refused, he tried to force me, so I ran away." She looked up at me and I noticed that despite that ugly chopped mess she had made of her hair, she was still astonishing beautiful and seemed to exude innocence.

"I don't see why this is any concern of mine," I replied haughtily, aware that I was being bitchy. I drew some formula into the feeding syringe.

"It's really Kameron I want to talk to," she confessed, "he's successfully quit Team Rocket and I want him to help me, for at least he'll understand."

"Someone summoned me?" Kameron queried, materialising at the door. He was clad in a relatively neat dress shirt and trousers with his name on the pocket. His job was mainly desk work so he had to dress tidy. When he saw Freyja he took a step back. "It's you!" He announced.

"Kameron," Freyja whispered, "you've got to help me, I've left Team Rocket and I don't have anyone to turn to – you're the only people I know in the real world!"

"That's really sad," I said sarcastically. Kameron stepped through and put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. I knew it was his subtle way of telling me off for being rude.

For some reason, possibly tiredness, his attitude really bugged me, but I bit my tongue. Kameron was the one person I would not snap at, I respected and loved him too much for that. Instead I scooped up the baby and fed her. She murmured delightedly.

"She's genuine," he whispered in my ear, then kissed it. That was enough to make me smile and relieve my irritation somewhat. It was easy to forget that you could not hide emotions from Kameron, especially my emotions.

"What do you want us to do?" He asked.

She shrugged her delicate shoulders, "I think I just need some support, you know, to know that I can be accepted," she said, her eyes overflowing somewhat. 

"And, of course, somewhere to live," Kameron added.

She nodded mutely.

"I'll see what I can do, won't we Kat?"

"Whatever," I replied, concentrating on feeding Ozmos's daughter.

"Thank you so much," she said enthusiastically, stepping forward and giving Kameron an impromptu hug.

The jealousy surged in me. But I pushed it down, I was just tired, I told myself.

"Doctor Warwick?" I called, knowing he was still standing in the hallway, "can we find some place for Freyja to stay?"

"We are not running a hostel here!" Doctor Frances replied, "but I shall see what we can do, although it will be for but a few days at the most."

"That'll do," Freyja replied, "it'll give me time to go out and make some money, so I can pay for alternative accomodation. And my expenses of course. I've got a bit of money, Team Rocket pay well, but…." She let the sentence trail off.

"Come with me," Doctor Warwick suggested, "and we shall try and sort something out." I could see her beauty was affecting him as well. 

"Thank you all," she said, stepping out to trail along behind him.

"What do you think?" I asked Kameron as soon as they were gone, "it does seem very convenient, don't you think? That as soon as Ozmos's litter are born, she turns up."

"She wasn't lying," Kameron stated. "People can change, people can seek to improve their lives." He played with my hair idly. "I did, and I'm so much happier now." He coiled a strand of it around his finger.

"Still, her?"

The young man shrugged. "We shall see," he replied enigmatically, "just don't be too hard on her Kat, she's going through a very rough time. Trust me, I know!"

I sighed. "I shall be the epitome of politeness," I replied. "I just don't trust her, that's all."

In my hand the baby Eeveelution finished her syringe, rolled over and went to sleep. I stroked her fur gently and wondered what lay ahead for all of us. 


	2. Fight Fire with Fire?

# Fight Fire with Fire

_Special guest this story is **Susan Jarvis**._

We stood before a beaten down sign attached to a high fence, topped with coils of barbed wire. The sign proclaimed in bold print; "Magmaville, condemned property, do not enter!".

"What happened here?" I asked. We had just been teleported in by Fenrill, who proclaimed that one of her sisters was here, somewhere. Since her teleportation was not extremely accurate, she had got us on the wrong side of the fence. Kameron pulled out a guidebook to the area in general. In a sling about my chest, the baby Floreevee snored contentedly. She was down to feeds every five hours now and I was starting to feel somewhat saner. I had made the sling to carry her about though, because she was too young to keep in a Pokeball. Maki sat on my shoulder and chittered to Kiki, who was in Kameron's trench coat pocket.

He flipped through the guide book. "Magmaville," he recited, "a small mountain top village that used to be famed for its fire pokemon, magma powered electricity and mining. Unfortunately, twenty years ago, it was discovered that underneath the village was riddled with tunnels, which were filled with lava. Sometimes, these would crack through the ground and spill hot lava into the environment. A young boy, digging in his backyard, found one of these tunnels and the seering steam killed him. Pretty…" He added. "After that, whole families left town and five years ago, the cracks got bigger and it was too dangerous for anyone to live here anymore so the place was condemned, and encased in a high fence. So, we're here for the Fire Mew then?" He asked.

"My sister of the deserts, yes," Fenrill explained, "but I know not why she is here. Let us move to the far side of the fence!" The purple light surrounded us and we were teleported into the village.

Magmaville was one of the strangest ghost towns I have ever seen – the houses stared as us from windows, like empty eyesockets, and the ground was riddled with cracks, the grass browned or gone altogether. Through the cracks small gouts of steam billowed. Azriel, who was bounded beside us, yelped as the hot dirt burned his paws and Kameron hastily picked him up, putting him into his other pocket. Azriel was not very big, as far as Eevees went.

"Lovely place," he said wryfully. "Do you have any idea where your friend is?"

Fenrill sniffed the air. Everything smelt hot, almost dizzying. She nodded. "_She is somewhere over that direction," _a small pink bubble appeared above her head and she batted it aside with her tail, doing a little somersault.

"Then let's head that way, I don't want to stay in this hell hole any longer than is humanely possible!"

"Aw, I thought we might be able to catch some neat Fire Pokemon," Kameron quipped. "Owww!" I'd hit him in the arm.

"We find her, we leave," I replied, "and that is that!"

The Mew rested on my head, her long tail dangling down my back and we continued further into the abandoned township. Everything was still and quiet, aside from the occasional gust of steam, or small explosion. Maki clung tightly to my shoulder, whimpering slightly. I'd never seen the Makimur scared before. This certainly was a strange place.

Suddenly Fenrill somersaulted off my head and bounced onto the ground, where she picked up something in her short little arms. It was a cap, a baseball cap.

There was an "R" on it.

"Uh oh," I muttered.

"Ma ki!" Maki agreed.

Kameron frowned at the cap. "Definitely a Team Rocket one," he said, confirming my fears. "And probably not been here too long either, judging by the fact that it isn't scorched around the edges. That means there's probably someone else here."

"_They're after my sister!"_ Fenrill sounded almost desperate. "_We must make haste, hurry, and go fast_!"

"Maki," the Makimur urged us on. Fenrill darted along the road, bouncing off little pink bubbles she created on the way. We followed, more carefully. The ground was hot, even through our footwear. The baby Floreevee, named Flora, snorted in her sleep. I would have to stop and feed her soon. At least it would not be hard to warm the milk! As we rushed along, my foot caught in a crack in the road and I stumbled, falling over. I barely managed to twist in time so that I did not crush the baby in the sling about me. An explosion of pain shot up my leg and I clenched my teeth with the agony. Fenrill, darting ahead, appeared not to notice, but Kameron certainly did. He whirled around, putting out his hand to me.

The ground fairly burnt me, it felt like I had fallen on a hotplate. My foot itself, caught in the crack, felt almost as though it were on fire. Gratefully, I took Kameron's hand and he dragged me to my feet. My ankle still hurt, but at least the ground no longer scalded me. The palms of my hands were bright red, and burned. 

Kameron acted fast, "Marrill," he called out his water pokemon (since I had none with me), "cool down her hands now!" The little blue ball Pokemon did not even pause, merely acted on his command, spraying my hands, my forearms, Maki (who was inspecting the damage) and Flora with water.

At least the pain subsided.

"_What's keeping you_," Fenrill came bouncing back.

Kameron looked at her. "Kat fell and burnt her hands," he said, "if you weren't making us go so fast it wouldn't have happened!"

__

"We must find my sister," the swamp Mew seemed urgent. "_Please, before the bad people get her._"

I had though Mews were all fun and playful, but I was starting to wonder now.

Staggering slightly, leaning on Kameron for support, we followed Fenrill, who was moving much slower now, thankfully. She seemed to realise that I was in pain and speed would not help. And then Maki found something else.

He bounced down from my shoulder, picking it up and bouncing back before his paws burnt. It was a Pokeball, or the shattered remains of one. It appeared to have been stepped on.

"Something very wrong is happening here," Kameron said slowly.

I had to agree.

Maki tugged urgently on my hair. "Maki kiki kimur makimur!" He insisted. 

"What is it?" Kameron queried.

I smiled, for I now could understand almost perfectly. "The hat and the ball smell different," I said, "there are two people here."

"Hrm," Kameron pondered, "well, I hope they're not both trying to capture the Mew!"

"_I'll show them what for if they are!"_ Fenrill agreed, chasing her tail. She lowered her huge ears.

"Well, onwards and forwards?" Kameron suggested. My feet were becoming quite hot, I was glad to keep moving.

Around us the empty husks of houses gazed at us. They seemed sad, lost without anything inside them. Many had been reduced to nothing more than piles of ash. We had not travelled far when we came to a gaping crevasse. It was only about three feet across, but steam poured from it and in its dark depths we could see flames.

"I really don't like this place!" I stated, somewhat unnecessarily.

Kameron nodded in agreement. "We have to jump across," he said forlornly.

"You can jump, but I can't!" I pointed out. "My ankle will never stand it."

"Mew!" Fenrill shrieked at us in exasperation. She zipped back, bounced off a bubble and grabbed my arm. A moment later we were on the other side.

"Oh yeah, I forgot she could do that," Kameron muttered, shame-faced.

And then I saw it. And I knew, somehow, that was where we had to go. A manhole, open in the middle of the road, steam wafting from it. Fenrill knew it too, she was already hovering over it, doing delighted little flips in the air.

"You know, I'm sure the sewer system here is really unpleasant," Kameron muttered.

"At least there'll be no Grimers or Muk," I pointed out. Kameron knew how much I hated the pollution Pokemon. We leaned over the manhole, feeling the hot air on our faces, it was highly unpleasant, but not uncomfortable, like being in a sauna.

"Mew, mew mew!" Fenrill insisted. She looped downwards. Why she'd given up her telepathy for Pokemon-speak I couldn't understand. 

"I'll go first," I said, making sure Flora was comfortable in her sling. This was not the place to carry a baby. After a moment's pause I brought out an empty Pokeball. I didn't like incarcerating her, but in such conditions, it was a lot safer! "Flora return!" I scooped her up and placed her ball carefully on my belt. Now at least she wouldn't need a feed for another hour or so, but I hated the balls, I really did. "Maki, do you want to go safely away?"

"Maki," he shook his head.

"Very well." This journey I'd brought only he, Fenrill and Flora with me. Ozmos and Florion were of course otherwise occupied with their pups, and Dragosi had his eyes on one of the student's Charizards… And Chiko, well, she was baby-sitting. Kameron had brought Azriel, Marrill, Shadeon and Kiki, leaving Dancer and Shrubslash behind. Those two were happiest in the gardens at the University, much happier than wandering around lava.

I wrapped scraps of cloth around my hands (mental note, always carry old clothes with you when you travel, it saves wear and tear on your skin!) and made my way onto the first rung. Naturally, it was hot, and I was forced to grit my teeth against the pain from my already scalded hands. Times like this I wished I could heal myself. Luckily it was only a few steps down and then I was standing beside the sewer canal. There was water here, amazingly. But it was steaming. The Mew flipped down beside me.

"_You are doing well," _she said, "_I trust you are not badly hurt?_"

"I'll be fine," I replied, "after a rest, some water and a cold bath!"

"Ouch, ouch ouch," muttered Kameron as he climbed down after me. And he was wearing gloves too, the wuss!

And then we stood at the edge of the canal, in which the water steamed. One was lead into a glowing red light, probably magma, and the other lead into cool refreshing darkness. The canal was not very artistic, Magmaville was a small town and didn't need a sewage system with arching roofs. I thought I heard hissing around the place, but whether it was steam escaping from various vents or wild Pokemon, I could not even guess. We hadn't seen one wild Pokemon yet.

Fenrill did a somersault and looped off down the tunnel, thankfully, that led into darkness. We followed after her.

A splashing sound made me turn my head, but I could see nothing, probably just something falling into the canal.

It was hot in here, so hot that it was almost suffocating. Kameron removed his undershirt and put his trench coat back on (surprise surprise) over his otherwise bare chest. I rolled up my sleeves and tied the lower part of my shirt into a knot, so that at least my belly was bare.

We waded through a small drainage ditch, and Kameron pointed out something to us.

"Footprints!" 

And indeed, there were footprints, wet footprints, which meant that whomever was ahead of us could not be more than a few minutes away.

"They have small feet," I observed.

Fenrill rolled her eyes. "_We're getting closer!"_ She insisted.

We turned the corner and found whomever it was we were following.

It was a girl, about our age, with shoulder-length brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was standing there, staring sadly at the next obstacle.

I found my eyes drawn to said obstacle, and it was a pretty impressive one indeed.

The tunnel got smaller, very low and steam poured from it, thick steam that would slough the skin from anyone who got to close to it.

It was a substantial obstacle because Fenrill could not help us here, she could not teleport to the end of it, because she had no idea where that was. The steam was starting to make me feel somewhat light-headed, that and the pain in my hands. Azriel jumped from Kameron's pocket and darted over to the girl, who was still unaware of our presence.

"Eevee! Evee!" He said delightedly, dancing around her (to keep his feet off the ground).

"Why, hello there little cutey," she said, "where did you come from? You're no fire Pokemon." Then she turned around and saw us. "Oh, hi, what are you doing here?"

I smiled. "I'm Kataryna," I replied, "and this is Kameron, we're here in search of our companion's sister."

Fenrill did a little loop in the air.

"You too ah?" She asked, gazing at the Mew almost awestruck. "I'd only heard rumours, where did you catch her?"

Fenrill frowned at her. "Mew, mew mew mew!" She said urgently.

"We didn't exactly catch her, when we saved the Lapras she asked us to help her. So we agreed."

"Saved the Lapras?"

"It's a long story," Kameron stated, "and right now we have to go down there. Besides, you haven't even told us your name!"

"Oh, sorry!" The girl seemed unable to look away from the Mew. "My name's Susan. I train Fire Pokemon." 

Kameron picked up Azriel again. "We don't train much of anything," he replied wryly, "we seem to get trained by them, now what Fenrill?"

"Mew…" Fenrill pondered then flipped again, landing on her feet outside the entrance to the tunnel. The steam scorched her and she quickly bounced away. "Me-ewww!"

"Bit hot there?" I asked, "could you create a bubble for us to travel in, safely?"

"_My bubbles are meant for water and air, which contains water anyway, not for fire,"_ she replied, "_they would not last long at all._"

"How long?"

She started counting on her fingers and had to recount them several times, "_about eight minutes, by my guess,"_ she said.

"What's going on?" Susan asked. Obviously she could not hear the Mew, not the way Kameron and I could.

"We're trying to work out how to get through the tunnel," I replied. "Do you think it would take more than eight minutes to crawl through?"

"I have no idea. Look, I have to go through there, he stole my Pokemon and ran down there!"

"What?? Who?"

"A man, I was searching the town for wild pokemon, and suddenly this man jumped on me from above, and stole my Pokemon. He was gone before I had time to recover, but I saw him jump down this manhole. I followed of course, he'd stolen my team! Only, now I don't know where he's gone, I don't see how he could go down there."

"_He could, if he had captured my Sister,"_ Fenrill replied. "_She can control the element of fire."_

"Hang on," I said, "if she can control the element of fire, you can control the element of water?"

Susan was looking puzzled. 

"_Certainly,"_ the Mew replied, _"But I would have trouble with this water, for it is polluted. It is also not natural."_

"But you can try?"

"Please!" Susan urged, "he's stolen my Pokemon!"

"Calm down," Kameron reassured her, "Kat knows what she's doing, she's a dab hand at this sort of thing." 

__

"I would guess so, yes."

"Then Fenrill, flood that tunnel!"

"What???" From Susan.

"What?!" From Kameron.

"Me-EWWW!" Fenrill let forth an almighty screech, like a cat in a fight. The water from the canal suddenly became like a living thing, spraying into the air, but not in a random fountain, this one had purpose. Like a giant hand, the water rose from the sewer canal and fired straight into the steam-filled pipe. There was an almighty hiss as the cooler water hit the hot air. Kameron grabbed me as water exploded around us. Susan screamed. And suddenly we were surrounded in purple light, Fenrill's protective bubble.

"WHAT IN THE GOD'S NAME WAS THAT!" Susan seemed alarmed. Understandably. She hadn't been around us long enough to know how frequently strange things happened.

"_We must crawl through the tunnel now," _the Mew insisted, _"we have about ten minutes, no more!"_

"I'll explain everything later," Kameron informed the girl, "but for now, we crawl! As fast as you can! I'll go first," he added bravely.

Still remaining in the protective bubble, we began to crawl into the dark tunnel. 

It was still hot, and Maki and Kiki were whimpering and frightened. Azriel, on the other paw, seemed to find the whole thing quite entertaining. But he wouldn, wouldn't he? I would not have been surprised if we got a Flareon out of this. After all, Azriel had been a Flareon when we'd first met him (Remember the Flareon Shadeon devolved?).

The air started to get stifling within the pink bubble and Fenrill was "mew-ing" at us to move faster, to get where we were going. The pain was getting almost unbearable from my hands, which were starting to bleed now from the burns I had gained earlier. And suddenly, the bubble gave way, vanishing with a "pop". 

Immediately, hot steam pushed past us, making us all choke on the boiling fumes. My throat felt raw with pain. And then the bubble appeared again.

"_Um, sorry,"_ Fenrill said. "_But, well, something appears to be affecting my powers."_

"Oh damn, that's all we need!" Kameron expressed my thoughts fluently.

And then we saw light. Golden light, not red fire light. Biting my lip I crawled furiously towards it, and we all saw what it was.

A large chamber complete with built in molten lava pit.

And something stirred in the lava. Something human sized.

At first I thought they had fallen in the lava and died, but that could not be right, for anything falling in there would be reduced instantly to nothingness. No, this person seemed wholly unaffected by it. We couldn't back out now, there was nowhere to go backwards to.

But looking up, I saw a circlet of light, high above us.

"So you have come to pay me a visit?" The figure engulfed in lava boomed, pulling itself to the ledge around the side as though it were climbing out of a swimming pool. It was male, quite definitely and naked, his hair completely scorched off. Small tongues of flame licked across his bald head and entwined lovingly about his shoulders.

It was then with a shock, that I noticed the two bright blue eyes, shining like sapphires. And I recognised him.

"Loki!" Kameron shrieked, a step ahead of me. "What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you doing?"

Loki grinned mischievously. "I'm going to be a god." He said slyly. "Once I have caught all the Mews and stolen their souls, I shall be more powerful than any pokemon that ever lived. You shall bow down and worship me!"

He threw back his head and cackled.

"My Pokemon, what about my Pokemon?"

"Oh, those pitiful things," he smirked, "of no use to me whatsoever, I merely stole them for some entertainment, and perhaps so that someone would watch my rebirth as the God of Fire. I'm sure you'll find them somewhere. Those that haven't turned to ash that it." He cackled.

Fenrill somersaulted through the air, bouncing off bubbles and hovered before the pale man with his flaming hair and manic blue eyes.

__

"WHAT ABOUT MY SISTER!" She shrieked.

He rose one hand and a blast of fire sent the Mew tumbling backwards, almost into the lava, but she managed to catch herself just in time, floating upwards.

"She's a part of me now," he said, "but if you want her helpless shell, it's over there." He pointed to a ledge far out above the fire. "But right now, my little friend, I believe you have something I require!"

Another fireball, bigger than the last, a blast of flaming sulphur, erupted from both hands, and straight towards us. We had nowhere to escape to, nowhere to retreat to. The tunnel behind us was filled with steam, and below us was flaming lava that would melt us in mere moments. Kameron wrapped his arms around me, as though that could protect me from the fireball.

And something else erupted from the magma.

"Charrrr!" The huge dragon Pokemon shrieked, as it flapped its mighty wings, sending the fireball spraying into the lava.

"Charizard!" Susan shrieked delightedly, "you're alive!"

Loki smiled slyly. "But not for long," he said. "Not for long at all." Tendrils of flame leapt form his fingertips, entwining themselves about Fenrill, who was still dazed from her near-death experience. He drew her towards him.

"No!" I shrieked, wishing I had brought Dragosi with me.

"Maki makiMUR!" Maki shrieked, and Kiki joined in, the two of them making a cacophanous racket that seemed incapable of coming from something so small.

Loki glanced away for a moment, he still didn't know what the two Makimur were capable of, still was a little in awe of them. And Fenrill and Charizard reacted.

A purple bubble formed around Loki, just as a blast of hot air from the dragon pushed him upwards and into the air currents. He disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Flaming pieces of rubble fell in his wake.

The Charizard hovered before us somehow, staring straight at Susan.

"Char charrr!" It declared.

"Where are the other's?" the girl asked, furiously glancing around.

"Chaaar!" It replied.

She sighed. "I wish I could understand it properly," Susan muttered.

I smile. "She says they're on the ledge with the Mew – they're still in their balls, her ball fell in the lava."

"You can understand it?!" She sounded incredulous.

"My Kat's amazing," Kameron replied, grinning. "But can you carry us over there, Charizard?"

"Zarrr!" She lowered her head so that we could clamber onto her broad back and she flapped across to the other side. There lay the Pokeballs, a discarded heap of them, four in total. And also there lay the Mew. She was in a bad way. She had more white in her then Fenrill and was curled up in a ball, whimpering.

Fenrill landed beside her and placed one paw on her. "_Sister_?" She enquired.

"Mew…" The Cat Pokemon whimpered. Susan picked it up gently, a step ahead of me. She cradled the little pink-white creature to her chest. It's tail flickered with a tiny flame, not unlike that of a Charmandar's.

"Poor wee mite," she said.

"Mew," it whimpered and started sucking on her finger. She stroked its head. 

"What do we do now?"

"_We must find the other ones._" She informed us, "_and stop that varmint that you call Loki, but first, we must get my sister safe."_

"Agreed!" I said, "then back to Siryntown, is it? Do you want to come with us Susan?"

Still cradling the injured Mew, Susan's Charizard scooped up her pokeballs in one claw.

"Yes please," she said, "I've never been there, but this place is getting too hot to handle! I think a breadk would do me good." She looked at the poor Legendary Pokemon. "Besides, I want to help this girl get well."

"Mew!"

"_I think she will make a good guardian,"_ Fenrill stated, and then smiled slyly. _"Would you like to look after my sister for me, Susan?"_

Susan stared at her, amazed at the suggestion and the fact that she could suddenly understand the Mew. "Would I ever! I'll keep her safe from all harm and treat her with the respect she deserves."

Fenrill did a little loop in the air in joy. "_Then it is agreed."_

And so Susan was nominated guardian of the Desert Mew, and Kameron and I, after a quick trip home to have a cold shower, set off again, in search of the five other sisters and to stop the evil that was Loki.


	3. Dreams of the Broken

# Dreams of the Broken

_Special Guest Star in this story - **Arielle White** (Gold Vaporeon)._

Once back at base, we sat down and discussed ideas whilst I wrapped bandages about my injured hands. Florion was very concerned, coming over to me and nuzzling me desperately. I scratched him behind the ear and brought out Flora, feeding her some of the milk formula. She was getting quite big now, although she'd never be as big nor as strong as her siblings.

"Where to now?" I asked Fenrill.

The little Mew twirled through the air and placed one paw on the large map we had spread out on the floor. "_There_," she said.

Kameron and I leaned over it and frowned. "Its just some ancient bluff," I pointed out.

"_It doesn't matter what it is, that's where my sister is._" 

"Very well then." I peered at it more closely, "what's it called?"

"Charizard Ridge," Kameron, who was obviously better sighted then me, replied. "Its probably just a name given by the shape of it."

"Give me a few hours to clean up and pack some stuff and then we'd better set off," I said, "can you take us that far, Fenrill?"

__

"I am getting a little tired," she replied, "_however, a few hours rest, some chocolate and sugar and I'll be ready to teleport you to Siberia if you so desire."_

"I don't think we really want to go there!" I replied.

"Oh I dunno," Kameron interjected, "could be fun, besides, I hear the skiings good."

I threw a pillow at him. He caught it mid flight and came at me, hitting me with it. I fended off his horrific blows as best I could, but eventually fell beneath them, giggling. Florion, thinking this was the greatest game ever, dived in and attacked the pillow with vigour, and then Maki, who had been nibbling an enormous apple, decided that if they were playing, he should do.

After that it sort of doesn't bear talking about.

__

"Oh for goodness sake, children!" Fenrill rolled her blue eyes as we picked ourselves apart amidst a downpour of feathers. "_And you're the ones who are saving the world?"_

That sobered us up immensely. "Loki's got the power of Fire," I pointed out, "we're going to need the power of water to fight him, do you think Ozmos will help us out here?"

"Flori, florion!" Florion scolded us for even considering the idea.

"We've got Marrill," Kameron reminded me, "and Fenrill, you know water attacks, don't you?"

The Mew nodded.

"Therefore we should be right with those two. But Chiko, Maki, Kiki, Dancer, Shrubslash and Florion, we should leave them behind."

"Makiki!" Maki did not agree with that plan.

"Well, Chiko, Dancer, Shrubslash and Florion anyway!" Kameron quickly said. "Since we don't want them getting hurt. So, Dragosi, do you think he'll tear himself away from his flame-friend for an adventure?"

"I can ask," I replied, and moved over to the window, opening it and whistling. We waited. Nothing happened. We waited some more.

Dragosi came whirring down and grabbed onto the windowsill with his forearms.

"You want to go on an adventure?"

The Dragon-fly Pokemon pondered this for a moment, then nodded, "si!"

"Okay, good on ya! Come inside." He squeezed through the opening and sat on the bed.

"Dragosi, Fenrill, Maki, Marrill, Shadeon, Azriel, do you think that's enough?" I asked. "And do you think it is really wise to bring Shadeon?"

"I can't leave her," Kameron pointed out, "she's bonded to her Pokeball, remember?"

I sighed. "Oh, and you think you're smart," I quipped, "you can leave the Pokeball behind you know! Besides, it'll be nightfall by the time we leave, so she'll be fine, just because Shadow Pokemon are weak against Fire…"

"Eevee eev!" Azriel viciously pounced on the bedspread, that was hanging almost to the floor. A little Florion-Vaporeon hybrid sprang out at him, and he pinned it neatly with one paw.

"Floreevee!" It called.

Oh yes, that was another thing, the offspring of Ozmos and Florion seemed to refer to themselves as Florevee or Vaporevee, obviously strange juveniles or some such thing!

"Azriel, come here, we need to rest!"

"Eevee eve eveevee!"

I laughed, "he says you may need to rest but he doesn't!" I replied. "Anyway, we've got our plan of attack worked out, yes? So let's get some rest." I folded up the mat, noticing that Fenrill had already curled up and fallen asleep on my spare bed. I glanced around at the Pokemon - Maki and Kiki were raiding the fruit bowl, Chiko was watching television, the colours seemed to fascinate her, Shrubslash sat beside her, slashing the air in training which seemed to consist of knocking things off the shelves and catching them in his vine whips. Marrill was sleeping in her Pokeball, Ozmos and her pups were asleep in their basket, or most of them were anyway, Florion had already returned to them now. Shadeon was lurking under the bed, so that only her glowing red eyes could be seen. Dragosi moved off the bed, chosing to return to his Pokeball to sleep. I threw myself on the bed. I was really lucky I had a room to myself, or else my roommate would have to put up with Pokemon everywhere! They raided the fruit bowls, the refridgerator (those that could open it), maliciously attacked my pillows (I was already onto my twelveth this year), chewed on my books, yep, Pokemon were the worst type of roommates, but I wouldn't be without them!

Kameron clambered onto the spare bed. He didn't live here, of course, but he knew better then to leave his Pokemon alone in his room. He curled up beside the Mew and fell asleep. I attempted the same, but the burning in my arms, mixed with the burning in my mind was too much. Sensing this, Shadeon jumped on the bed. Of all the Pokemon we had, she was the only one I felt sorry for. I reached out and ruffled her head plume.

"What's up girl?" I said to her.

She licked my hand. Her tongue was cold, almost like being licked by an ice-cube. She certainly was a sorrowful creature, her true body stolen from her so that she now had this half living, half dead thing that lacked heat and sometimes substance. She had lived her entire life in a mansion, spending part of it tormenting the scientist that had made her the way she was and the other part haunting the house after he had died. She had never known love, or even friendship, until recently, and it was obvious that she just wanted to please us, sometimes with dire consequences. It had been her that had jumped into battle and devolved the opponent's Flareon, which had angered him and caused him to practically throw the now Eevee into the arms of Team Rocket. That Eevee was Azriel, still an Eevee and seemingly content with it all. Perhaps due to her guilt at devolving him, Shadeon had taken an almost motherly approach to the little Pokemon, but her cold fur and semi-insubstantial nature tended to scare him away. It scared a lot of Pokemon. Currently, she was only about the same size as Florion, her size changed according to the light levels, in bright sunlight, she was no bigger than Azriel. In darkness, however, she could be twice the size of a standard Eon. I knew all this because the two of us had been friends for some time. I also knew what was wrong with her now.

"You're lonely, aren't you?" I asked, stroking her long fur. I didn't have empathy like Kameron did, but I did know my Pokemon, and his (I'd been with him so long we hardly kept track of who technically owned her anyway, not that I considered the Pokemon anything less then friends, friends that stayed with me by their choice, not mine).

She nodded, her red eyes flaring for a moment. I knew why she was paying attention to Azriel, he was the closest thing we had to the same species as her. However, he was little more than a kitten, in behaviour anyway. It would be cruel to force him into evolution. "_Shaaaa, shaa deeeeeoooooonnnnnnnn,"_ she hissed.

I continued stroking her, "you're a wonderful Pokemon," I said to her, "anyone would be happy to have your company, I'm sure."

She shook her head in disbelief. I wrapped my arms around her and we lay there for a moment, the dark furred Pokemon cold in my arms, glad of my warmth.

Chiko squealed as Azriel made an effort on attacking her head plume, again. The Eevee seemed all but obsessed with that adornment and spent hours stalking it, much to Chiko's chagrin and the amusement of the rest of us.

Shadeon sighed and nuzzled my ear. I knew it must embarrass her, how the only prospective partner in my whole crowd of Poke-friends had the maturity and attention span of a kitten.

Eventually I too, dozed off.

* * *

Something was pulling my hair. I plied open my eyes and saw Fenrill standing there, her short hands tugging my locks. I wondered why she had not resorted to more conventional means, like spurting me with water or psychically assaulting me.

"_Chocolate," _she said urgently.

I dragged myself out of bed, disturbing Shadeon and retrieved a cake of chocolate from the fridge. I hid it there because very few of my Pokemon were capable of opening the heavy door. It was untouched, thankfully. I handed the entire block to Fenrill, who demolished it in about a minute, the whole cake. Azriel, who seemed to need no sleep at all, licked up the crumbs, all of them. Great, I thought to myself, just what we need, a hyperactive Azriel…

Fenrill wiped chocolate from her mouth. "Okay," she said, "_I'm done, are you all ready to go_?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied, I shook Kameron. "Wake up! Time to go."

"Figures," he muttered as he pushed away sleep. "Shadeon, Azriel, get in your balls please!" He strapped his Pokeballs to his belt and put his trench coat on. Kiki jumped in his pocket and Maki jumped on my shoulder.

I picked up Dragosi's ball. "I hope we've got enough Pokemon," I replied. "Are you sure we shouldn't drag Susan along?"

"Nah," Kameron replied, "we work best as a team, we don't want her to get hurt do we? Besides, her Mew isn't doing very well."

"_Poor Sunstar,"_ Fenrill replied, _"my sister of the hot areas, it should not have happened to her. It should not happen to the rest of my siblings."_

"It won't," I replied, "we shall save them."

I wished I could feel more secure in that knowledge.

Throwing some necessities (like chocolate) into our knapsacks, Kameron and I stood near the Mew, and she reached out, touching both of our hands with her own. There was a ***zap*** and we were gone.

And found ourselves in a tiny village.

"_Oops_," the Mew replied, "_I must've been off a few kilometres._" The problem with teleporting was that despite the fact that she could teleport us anywhere, and going just by knowing the vague area, was that unless she'd been there before, her aiming was not too precise. Hence the reason why we couldn't just teleport to the end of the tunnel – we had no idea where it ended and might have wound up sealed in rock, falling into molten lava or something even worse (although I can't imagine what that could be!). She could teleport us across a room, because she could see where she was going. But every effort drained her energy, hence the chocolate.

"A walk won't hurt us," I replied.

Kameron grinned, "it could" he replied, "how's your ankle?"

"Fine now," I replied, "it was just a little strain, nothing serious." It did hurt, but I didn't want to tell him that, a little discomfort in exchange for an energetic Mew, seemed like a good thing.

He furrowed his brow at me in confusion, and shook his head. I'd forgotten he could feel the fact I was lying. But he decided not to speak of it. For some reason this annoyed me.

"Anyway, let's get going." 

"Maki makimurrr!" Maki affirmated.

As we were leaving the village, it was approaching late evening and we were forced to stop at a cafe and ask for directions.

"You want to go to Charizard Ridge?" The proprietor, a pretty woman with pigtails, queried, she looked rather puzzled. "Nobody's gone up there for ages, they say it's haunted and everything. Strange going's on in the old Ridge House."

"Really…" Kameron sat down at the bar. "Tell me more."

She smiled at him, a little too flirtaeously for my tastes, given he was sixteen and she had to be in her twenties at least. The café was quiet and therefore she seemed more then willing to talk. "There's a big old house on the ridge," she said, "made by a man and his wife, as a place to raise their three children. Only problem was, when the influenza epidemic hit the area some twenty years ago, all their kids caught it and died. Terrible thing, place was too secluded – couldn't get to help in time.

The couple became very distraught, and the wife, she killed herself. That left the husband all alone. He became something of a hermit, having groceries sent up to the place, never leaving it. The local store used to leave a box by the gate, he never let noone in, noone at all.

They say he died five years ago – or at least, that's when he stopped collecting the food parcels, they just went there to drop off the new one and the old one was still there. Poor kid, was too scared to go and knock on the doorstep himself, so he came back down here and told the police. They went up to investigate of course, but well, that's when things got really odd.

You see, two policemen went up there, a man and woman team, Constable Jeremy and Officer Jenny I believe, they went up there, and went in. Apparently the place was really odd, you ever see that movie "The Haunting"?"

Kameron shrugged, "yeah," he said, "it screened last year, the one with the real creepy house?"

"That's the one. Apparently it was a bit like that only weirder." She paused for a moment whilst we let the weight of this statement sink in.

"Weirder?" I asked.

She nodded, and then glanced up as the bell above the door rang and a young woman walked in. A pretty girl with short, thick, brown hair.

Just what we need, I thought, another pretty girl. I glanced at Kameron, but he seemed entranced by the story. It seemed silly to me to be experiencing all these jealous feelings now, I mean, why should I be automatically suspicious of any female who talks to my boyfriend? What I didn't realise then was that this is a fairly typical problem that most people in a relationship face sooner or later.

"Excuse me a moment," the Proprietor said, scooting over to serve the young lady a hot chocolate.

"Um, I'd better have one of those two," Kameron declared as soon as she'd returned. She made the drinks, plopped some baby marshmallows in them, and returned to us.

"Okay, where was I?"

"You were describing the house," I replied.

"Oh yes, right. Anyway, it's a real big house, the Ridge Mansion, huge, way too big for five people. Apparently as they approached the house, they noticed there were these two great Gryphons by the front stairs. Do you know what a Gryphon is?"

"A legendary Pokemon, please continue!" Kameron was extremely interested in the story.

Fenrill stole the marshmallows from his mug and starting licking the foam. He pushed her away with one hand. She frowned at him, narrowing her vibrant eyes.

"Mew!" She scolded.

He sipped the drink regardless.

"Well, as soon as they touched the front doors, the Gyphons attacked them."

"What? Were they just Pokemon that were resting?"

She shook her head. "Nope, apparently they looked and felt like rock. They later sent a brave soul up to collect a scraping, and when testing, it was just common rock. But wait, it gets weirder."

"_I don't see what this has to do with saving my sister,"_ Fenrill insisted.

"Shhh!" We (and the newcomer) hissed in unison, all three of us drawn into the story.

Fenrill rose her chin in the air and hovered up to the chandelair to sulk.

"And this is not a common Pokemon trick I take it?" I asked.

"Not for any Pokemon that look like Gryphons," she replied.

"What about Ditto?" Kameron had obviously been doing his reading.

However, having told this story many times, the woman had obviously faced this question before, because she answered without pausing, "a transformed Ditto is fairly obvious," she said, "no, these were not Dittos, the rock did come to life."

"Okay," I said, still not believing her.

Even Maki was engrosed in the story.

"To get past the gryphons, they ran up the stairs and into the house. The front hall has been described as being amazing. Apparently its overgrown with vines and weird black flowers, flowers that try to eat the unwary traveller."

"Victribells!" Kameron and I said in unison. You could see our lectures were starting to pay off.

"Perhaps," the woman replied, "but a very strange breed indeed, and how did they get there?"

It was then I noticed that the girl had brought in a Pokemon with her. It was a large Vaporeon, but unusual in that its fur was a rich, irrediscient gold. I found my eyes drawn to the creature and had to pull them back to the story. I could ask her about the Vaporeon later, but for now…

"Anyway," the proprietor continued, "as they crossed the main hall, they got this distinctive feeling that they were being watched, and then suddenly this enormous moth, composed entirely of light, swooped down on them. One of the Officers ran back through the door, the other one froze and the creature descended on her.

She was never seen again."

Kameron grinned. "Yeah right," he said.

The woman blushed, she looked down. Kameron grinned.

"I know you're fibbing," he said, "call it a curse."

"Very well," she said, "he was seen again, but he was much disturbed about it and never spoke of what had happened, except to say that it was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to him!"

Kameron glanced at me, his eyes gleaming and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"You want to go there, don't you?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied, "its probably just a bunch of wild Pokemon like at Shadeon's place, no such thing as ghosts. Besides, it's on the ridge, Fenrill's sister might be there!"

The Mew came looping back and tilted her head at us. "_My sister might be in this house?"_ She asked, "_Then why are we talking and wasting time, let's go!"_

"One thing first," I replied, and turned to the girl who was with us. "Where did you get that wonderful Vaporeon?"

She looked at me a bit startled and the gold Vaporeon came over and nuzzled my hands in greeting. I scratched her behind the ear, wishing I had my Vaporeon to met her. Certainly Ozmos was not this unusual, but she was different.

"My name's Kameron," Kameron leaned over my shoulder and butted in. 

The girl grinned at him. "I'm Arielle,' she replied, "and this is Splash."

"Vapor!" Splash said, recognising her name.

Maki immediately bounded over to investigate. He landed on the gold Vaporeon's head and started playing with her head fins. She hissed, "eon!" at him, making his jump away.

"I'm Kataryna," I scooped Maki up in my arms, "and this little rogue is Maki."

"_This is all very nice and all,"_ Fenrill said, "_but we have to save my sister!"_

Arielle glanced at her. "Is that," she paused, looking startled, "is that really a Mew?"

"Mew, mew mew meuuw!" Fenrill stated firmly.

I chuckled, because what she'd just said was, "what do you think I am? A Meowth?"

"This," I informed Arielle, "is Fenrill, whom we are helping at the moment."

"You're going to that haunted house, aren't you?" She asked, displaying insightfulness, "I want to come with you."

"Hrm, why?" I asked, taking unawares by her statement.

"I've been waiting in this town for a week," she said, "because the main road out of here is blocked and, well, quite frankly, I'm bored, my Pokemon are bored and we love a ghost story as much as the next person, right Splash?"

"Va por reon!" Splash appeared to agree whole-heartedly.

"I suppose a few more wouldn't hurt," Kameron decided, "we may be running into trouble."

"Yeah?"

"Fenrill is wanting to help her sister, whom is somewhere on Charizard Ridge, and we suspect the old Manor house. However, a nasty ex-Rocket is also after them and he has managed to get himself the power of Fire."

"Sounds scary!" She did not sound particularly scared at all.

"Yeah, that's why we'd like you to come along," Kameron said, looking pointedly at me, "because you've got a fine water Pokemon there, and we've just got a Marrill and Fenrill here."

Even the Mew was looking interested now. "Come on," I said, "we've got to get going, we'll explain everything on the way!"

And so, armed with our trusty flashlights and with hot chocolate in our bellies, we set off on our next great adventure.

* * *

The fence was nearly as formidable as that we had faced earlier, when approaching the condemned town. This one had points on the top, threaded with barbed wire. However, the huge cast iron gates were slightly open, and we squeezed in easily. Since it was nightfall, Kameron released Shadeon and the dark shadow Pokemon danced across the lawn, always staying close to the young man. The garden was overgrown, unkempt, weeds choked the rose gardens that lined the path, and even attempted the life of the path itself. Everything was quiet. The cracked and weed strewn driveway lead through an alley of ancient oak trees, their branches groaning ominously in the darkness.

__

"She is here," Fenrill replied, "_I can feel her, in the grass, the trees, even the air. My sister, my darling sister!"_

I stroked her on the head. "And Loki, he is not here yet?"

She scented the air, "_I think not,"_ she replied, _"but I may be mistaken."_

Arielle had leaned over and was looking at Shadeon carefully. "That's an unusual Eeveelution," she said softly, so as not to disturb the Hoho hooting in the trees above.

"She's a Shadow Pokemon," Kameron replied, "she can turn into shadow when she likes."

"Cool!" The woman actually did sound interested, "I've got some unusual Eons of my own."

"Aside from Splash?" I asked.

"Yep, aside from her." She drew out her Pokeballs and released four Pokemon, all Eons from the looks of them. 

A purple cat-like creature with large ears and a split tail materialised first, and immediately threw itself into Arielle's arms, nuzzling her happily. The second was as black as the darkness, aside from its glowing red eyes and a golden halo on its forehead, legs, ears and tail. It stretched vainly and paced around in a semi-circle, eyeing us suspiciously. The third was more unusual, being a greenish colour with various adornments. As thought something we did not, Azriel immediately bounded over and hurtled into it. It yelped in alarm, or so I suspected, until I reached forward to grab the Eevee off it and it barrelled into him.

"That's May," Arielle explained, "she loves to play!"

"What is she?" Kameron asked. I knew he still had that book of Doctor Krakenstein's and had been reading it quietly, in his spare time. "No wait, don't tell me! Its one of the birthstone Pokemon?"

Arielle looked surprised, "how did you know? Not many people know about the Gem stone's effect on Eevees."

He shrugged, "what can I say, I read a lot," he replied.

"Then you might recognise this fellow too," she said, releasing her last Pokemon. It was a golden coloured pokemon with white ruff and jewelled tail. "This is November," she said, "he's a Topezeon."

November sat down and gazed at her with big, dark eyes. She reached down and scratched his ruff. 

"So," she said, "that's my gang, how about yours?"

The dark Pokemon, which I recognised as an Umbreon from my lessons, began deliberately stalking Maki. Maki turned and glared at it, his golden eyes glowing for a moment and it sat on its haunches and scratched its head in confusion. The Makimur grinned and began grooming his tail.

Shadeon shook herself and wandered towards the Umbreon, her ruff almost standing on end. She held her head down submissively and whimpered. I knew immediately what was going on. She had seen the Dark Pokemon and recognised it for what it was – a beast of the night, like herself.

"You've got to watch Mors," Arielle cautioned, as our eyes all turned towards the two night Pokemon.

Mors suddenly stood on his hindpaws and hit Shadeon across the side. She was so surprised she tumbled over in the dirt, clambering to his feet and staring at him. Her red eyes flared for a moment.

"Shadeon!" Kameron snapped, "don't do it girl!"

"_Shhaaaaa?"_ She asked, tilting her head at him.

Arielle sighed. "If you guys are not going to get along, I'm going to have to put you away Mors."

Mors growled, he didn't agree with that treatment at all. 

"As for my other Pokemon," I added, "I have Dragosi and that's it. That's a Psychic Dragon type," I answered her questioning look with. "And little Flora." I took the baby from her Pokeball and held her out for Arielle to see. She yawned and whimpered, rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Oooooh," Arielle replied, "she's gorgeous, what is she?"

"A female Grass Eevee pup," I replied, probably confusing her, "and Kameron has Azriel there, a Marrill, Shadeon and Kiki, that's the other Makimur." 

"_Come on!"_ Fenrill insisted.

"Okay, okay, keep your tail on, we need to make a plan of attack," I replied, earning a confused look from the girl, who couldn't understand the Mew, "we can't just march right in there, can we?"

"Why not?" Kameron asked. "We've got two Pokemon that are good at night time, provided they don't maul each other, and we've just got to get past those Gryphons."

"If you believe the Gryphons were real and not just some silly folklore," I muttered.

"They were real," Kameron insisted, "she believed."

"Water's good against stone," Arielle interjected.

"Yes, for Pokemon perhaps, but are these statues Pokemon or something more?"

"One way to find out!"

Our Pokemon trailing behind us, we walked down the pathway, under the gloom of the oak trees.

The garden seemed shrouded in dark roiling shadows, a little bit like mist. I noticed Shadeon loping over and investigating them, a shake racking over her body.

"_Shaaa,_" she said nervously.

I reached out and tousled her fur. "I know there's something strange going on," I replied, "that's why we're here."

Mors, Arielle's Umbreon stalked back and glared at her, obviously seeing her for the match she would be. The two spent a lengthy period of time eyeballing one another.

"No fighting!" Arielle instructed, and Mors stuck his head in the air haughtily and huffed loudly.

We continued further, Maki and Kiki staying unusually close to us, behaviour obviously influenced by the atmosphere. And then we saw the house, lit by moonlight.

It was huge, with turrets and towers and even a clock, with hands like gnarled claws forever stuck at ten past twelve. It might be a mansion, but to me it also resembled a castle.

"Wow!" Kameron whispered, "what a great place!"

I nodded. "You'd love to live here, wouldn't you?"

He grinned broadly, "you bet!" From his pocket he drew the Pokedex. Not only had we had it repaired, we had also had it upgraded, so it now recognised every single Pokemon known to man, was programmable with those not yet known and also it identified non-Pokemon life forms, minerals and plants. It was a pretty efficient device. He pointed it at Mors.

"Umbreon," it intoned, "the Night Evolution of Eevee. When excited, Umbreon exudes poison."

"Oh, ick!" He exclaimed, and pointed it at Shadeon.

"Shadeon, the Shadow Evolution of Eevee. This Pokemon is an unnatural creation and able to turn to mist at will."

"What are you doing?" Arielle hissed, I think the atmosphere was getting to her.

"Making sure it works," Kameron replied, "we have to use it to identify the stone Gryphons."

And then we were close enough to see the stone gryphons. They sat opposite each other at the foot of a wide stone staircase, their stone eyes locked forever in a competition of wits. The weather had not been overly kind to them, chunks of rock were missing and they had a smooth, worn look.

Kameron pointed the Pokedex at them.

"Object identified," it said after a lengthy pause, "material: mineral, sentience: absent."

"They're rock, and they're not alive," he translated. "Nor have ever been. I think those cops must have been on something."

Suddenly Azriel, who had been wandering off, as he was inclined to, sneezed and fell over backwards, his legs twitching. I rushed to his side, scooping him up. He fitted a bit in my arms, whimpered and then appeared to come right, nuzzling me in the cheek. I looked at what he had been investigating. It was some bright red toadstools, clustered about the foot of an oak tree.

"Kameron check this out," I hissed, motioning him over. He glanced at them and pointed the machine at it.

"Devil's Knob Toadstool;" it identified, "the spoors from this toadstool can cause hallucinations and even death when they are released in early autumn."

"Thank you Az," I patted the Eevee on the head. "I think we've found out culprit! Good thing its nearly winter, otherwise things could have more unpleasant."

"Eevee!" Azriel agreed, nuzzling me. I placed him on the ground and he tottered a few paces, before bumping into a rock and falling over.

"Poor wee mite," I replied, picking him up again. "I think this place must be quite unpleasant, but at least we have nothing to worry about now, obviously those officers were here in early autumn and inhaled the spores!"

Kameron nodded in agreement. Arielle was busy rounding her Pokemon up, and trying to keep them away from the spores. Luckily they seemed more obedient then the little Eevee.

The young man walked up to the right hand gryphon and leaned on it. "See," he said happily, "nothing but stone, plain stone, the lady in the café must've been having us on."

"_Shaaaaa!!"_ Shadeon shrieked, leaping forward and knocking Kameron out of the way and into the stone step. He whimpered and crawled to his feet.

"What did you do that for?" He asked the Shadow Pokemon.

"_Sshaa de oooon,"_ she insisted.

"It never moved," he replied, and we all turned to stare at the immobile statue. "It's rock see." He tapped on it. "Nothing to be afraid of, you really are highly strung, aren't you girl? That hurt!"

Shadeon hung her head, looking quite abashed. She whimpered.

"It's okay," Kameron replied, "you were just trying to help."

Arielle sighed. I could tell she was impressed by our Pokemon's calm presence of mind. We had been with her a few hours and already she had seen one sniff a poisonous toadstool and the other attack its Trainer. 

There was a grinding noise, such as rock grinding on rock. Both of our eyes turned to the Gryphon. Which was not moving, although I had thought it had been holding the podium with two claws, not one, but it was dark and I may have been mistaken.

"_No point in hanging around," _Fenrill insisted. Kameron nodded and walked up the steps, Arielle following him. I brought up the rear, having to turn around and make sure all of my rogues were following. Maki crouched on my shoulder, obviously terrified. That seemed unusual, most unusual.

Then that grinding noise again. I whirled around and saw that the Gryphon was now standing rampant, its wings spread and both fore talons in the air.

It had certainly not been in that pose before. There was a grinding to the other side and the other Gryphon moved, in front of my eyes, into the same pose.

"Um, guys…" I whimpered as with a scream of rock on rock, the gryphon slashed at me. 

"Ma KI!" Maki screamed, hitting it with a beam of light that had no affect whatsoever. 

I tried to dodge aside, but the stone talon slashed into my arm. It was stone, and therefore a blunt instrument, not sharp enough to break skin, but it was hard enough to send an explosion of pain up my arm and knock me off my feet.

The other Gryphon shrieked and flapped into the air.

And we sprang into action.

"Splash, use water against it!" Arielle shrieked. "December, earthquake!"

Kameron, who was at the door, grabbed the handle and swung it open. Or tried to, it was firmly locked.

"Maki," he called, "you're up little fellow!"

"Maki makimur!" The little lemur jumped from my shoulder and ran over to my boyfriend. I whistled, "Dragosi!"

"Go siiiiii!" The purple Dragon Fly pokemon, which had been hovering after us, swooped down, intercepting one of the stone beasts. Because of the medium they were made of, it seemed to have immense problems moving, with much creaking and grinding of rock against rock. The psychic Dragon intercepted it with a screech that set our teeth on edge. Kameron drew out his Pokeballs.

"Go Marrill!" He shouted. The little blue ball leapt out and waved its arms about, a torrent of water pouring from its mouth. 

The Gryphon that wasn't fighting Dragosi swooped at us, its wings creaking and groaning and grinding. It was solid rock, and airborne, therefore not the world's most pleasant adversary, especially not when flying at you. Splash sprayed a torrent of water at it, knocking it off balance and sending it crashing into the pedestal it had been built on. The ground split open as December stamped one foot on the ground. Suddenly the gryphon was rock again.

Dragosi howled as a rock claw bashed him across the side of his head. He lurched low in the air, his eyes flaring white. But psychic attacks do not work on something that is not alive, and has never been alive. With a final grinding noise, the Gryphon flung him aside, where he tumbled to the ground in a purple heap.

Fenrill turned on it, a purple bubble appearing in front of it and bursting, showering it with water. When this had little effect, she did something bizarre.

A purple glow surrounded her, as though she were evolving, and suddenly a Poliwrath materialised on the steps, one with a distinctive pink sheen to it. A torrent of water erupted from its stomach, forcing the stone creature backwards and sending it tumbling into an oak tree, splintering its trunk with an almighty crack.

Somewhere nearby an ominous howl started.

I drew up Dragosi's Pokeball and recalled him, wishing I had the time to inspect the damage done by the claws and the fall. But there was no time.

The second Gryphon reappeared on the steps, in the initial pose.

"That was no hallucination," Arielle cautioned, "remember what that lady said lurked inside?"

"Strange black Victribells and a glowing moth," Kameron replied. There was a click. Maki had picked the lock.

"I really wish I knew how he did that," I muttered. "And how he learned it in the first place."

"Gary?" Kameron ventured.

Arielle's eyes lit up. "You know Gary?" She asked.

"Maki maki!" Maki agreed.

"Unfortunately so," I replied, "we met him once a while back, had the pleasure of sharing transport with him."

The young woman smiled and I knew she was lost. "He's so cute!" She said.

"Matter of taste," I replied. "I suppose he's a good Trainer." I added this merely so as not to annoy her, I did not regard Gary as a good Trainer, the same way I did not regard Ash a particularly good Trainer. They were not good Trainers specifically because they were Trainers. This seemed contradictory, but don't argue with the way my brain works!

She smiled. "I'd like to meet him one day."

"He found Maki," Kameron pointed out, "and then Kat wound up with him cos Gary couldn't cope with it."

Arielle seemed to find this a bit hard to grasp. She stared at me, the clumsy Trainer and shrugged. How could I tame something Gary failed to? I suppose it was all a matter of viewpoint.

Kameron reached up and opened the door.

The entrance hall was amazing, it was huge, with elaborate carvings about the walls – unicorns, dragons, gryphons and other mystical beasts (which I prayed were not in a similar situation to the Gryphons on the door).

But what was more amazing was the flora. Vines, thick dark green vines with dark purple-black flowers covered everything. I could see now why the lady had said they were not Victribells, they looked absolutely nothing like the pictures I had seen of the Plant Pokemon. Kameron immediately pulled out the Pokedex.

"Object identified; plant," it intoned, "sometimes called the Locust flower. Further details unknown."

"Locust flower?" I stared at them. "Aren't locusts gold and black?"

Kameron nodded. "At least they are just plants." We glanced around the room, searching for a pathway.

"It's times like this I wish I had a fire Pokemon," I muttered.

"Top topazeon!" November insisted, rubbing his head against Arielle's side and staring at her with huge eyes. "To!" He nodded at what seemed to be a path, of a sort, or at least a place relatively lacking in the ugly flowers. Unfortunately, it also happened to involve climbing over a particularly impressive looking statue of a dragon.

"Well, looks like it's the only way," Arielle stated, "unless you fancy touching those things?"

"No way!" Kameron exclaimed, "they're probably poisonous or something!"

"I expect no less," I replied. "This place is crazy! But what happens if…"

"Don't even think about it!" Kameron snapped. "I'll go first, you girls follow if its safe, ok?"

"Throwing yourself into danger for us then?" Arielle asked. "You shouldn't do that."

"Um, who was the one attacked by the Gryphons?" I pointed out, rubbing my arm, which was numb from pain.

"Um, yeah…" Kameron muttered. "Do you want me to bring up the rear?"

"_For the love of the Mews, just move!"_ Fenrill grumped.

"Oh, very well." Kameron started easing his way around the wall. He had managed to make about halfway when we heard a buzzing sound.

"What's that?" Arielle paused. Shadeon jumped onto the floor, glancing about, her red eyes gleaming.

"Just keep moving!" I hissed urgently. 

Kameron scrambled cautiously over the dragon statue. One of the flowers began twitching. Something large and insectile, banded in gold and black crawled out. 

"Hurry!" I shrieked.

The dragon began to move, that same grinding noise. Kameron literally leapt over it as locusts began pouring out of one of the flowers. The air was filled with the buzzing of insects.

Arielle was next. Her Pokemon sprang easily over the dragon, or clambered around it and she struggled over as the things tail twitched. Kameron grabbed the tail, restraining it as I reached it, placing my hands on it. It was cold, like rock, but I could feel it rippling beneath me. Suddenly the tail jerked free, sending Kameron crashing into one of the black flowers and me tumbling to the floor. The dragon tried to rear on its hindlegs, but its fore feet were attached firmly to the floor. It appeared to be pulling itself free. Arielle immediately reacted. "Splash, help them!" She shrieked as locusts descended on us. Her Gem Pokemon sprang up, crunching the insects in their jaws. Mors, always spoiling for some action, barrelled into the stone dragon and bounced off, whimpering. There was not much a Night Pokemon could do versus rock either, about the other thing that might affect it was water. Splash stamped her feet and water suddenly erupted from the floors and walls. I glanced at Kameron.

"Hydropump!" He shrieked joyously. "You rock Arielle! And Splash!"

I felt a little jealous. But no time for that now.

"_Hey, I could do that too,"_ Fenrill sounded almost hurt by the implication that the Vaporeon was better then her.

The dragon lurched as water surrounded its feet. It appeared to be trying to drag itself out of the water, but since part of it was still firmly embedded, it stopped and froze back to normal.

"The stairs!" Arielle directed, pointing.

Our head was surrounded by swarms of insects. I could feel them biting at my hair, nibbling at my skin. Biting me. The pain was unbearable. I squashed a few of them as I hurried away, glancing at my hands to see that they were covered in blood.

"Oh no," I whispered, staring at my Pokemon. They were faring little better. The locusts were stripping us free of fur and skin, and clothing. Arielle had already made it to the stairs. Shadeon was half-dragging Azriel across the floor. They were covered in the insects, the little Eevee howling in pain. Fenrill tried to cast her purple bubble of protection over us – I saw it appear, but nothing happened, the biting continued. I could feel blood trickling down my cheeks, and my hair was coming away in my hands. All I could see was blurs of gold and black and flashes, and then I stumbled, I had reached the stairs. I felt them and pulled myself up, noticing that the backs of my hands were raw and bleeding and the locusts were everywhere, biting and eating. 

The top of the stairs seemed an eternity away. I realised someone was beside me, Kameron was dragging himself up the steps too, his hands were bleeding, raw and his beautiful long hair was patchy and his scalp bleeding.

This place was too much for us, not even the Mew could help.

And then, suddenly, the buzzing ceased. 

Silence.

I paused, suddenly realising that my face no longer felt sticky. I glanced down at my hands, they were whole, normal. Risking a glance sideways, I saw that Kameron too looked normal and I threw my arms around him. 

"You're okay," he whispered, squeezing me. 

"So are you," I replied, my face now wet with tears of relief. 

At the top of the stairs, Arielle sat, her arms wrapped around her knees, sobbing quietly. "My skin, my hair, my Pokemon," she whispered.

"We're okay!" I shouted and she looked up. 

"We are? We are!" She grabbed Splash who was sitting beside her and squeezed the gold Vaporeon.

"What is going on here?" Kameron asked, staring pointedly at Fenrill.

"_I, I don't know,"_ the Mew whispered, _"my sister, she's here but, my powers no longer work. It's awful, this place it just…so wrong…."_

I squeezed her. "We'll find her." I said. I glanced down at the room, it was as it had first appeared.

"At least we know now why they're called Locust Flowers," Kameron muttered.

I shuddered, "don't remind me!"

Fenrill led us down the hallway. Even Mors looked subdued, he had long stopped stalking Shadeon and trying to goad her into a fight. Instead he turned his attention to Nemesis, Arielle's Espeon, the purple Day Eeveelution. He rubbed up against her as if to see if she was alright and she purred softly and licked his head. 

"Oh, how cute," I remarked and Mors turned to scowl at me. "Sorry," I rose my hands in declaration of innocence.

Now we were upstairs Maki seemed to have overcome his fear of leaving my side and he scampered along the bannister, investigating. The place upstairs was bizarre, to say the least, paintings hung from the walls, if they were family portraits, pale skin and frightened eyes seemed to feature highly in the genetic pool.

One of the paintings featured a particularly ugly woman, with what almost appeared to be golden-green eyes. I could have sworn they were following us.

"This place sure is creepy!" Arielle remarked. 

"That would have to be the understatement of the day," Kameron muttered as somewhere in the distance we heard the sounds of children laughing. Azriel leapt into my arms. We glanced around us nervously.

"Ghosts," I stated, squeezing the Eevee. "Or haunted memories."

Suddenly the Emeraldeon, who had bounded ahead, came running back, her fur on end. Something large and golden whizzed after her. The giant moth perhaps? Mors, who had been waiting for action, sprang forward, possibly trying to impress the Espeon. He flung himself into the air, vanishing as Night Pokemon can and reappearing to barrel into it. And went flying straight through, rebounding off the wall at the far end. He whimpered and dragged himself to his feet.

"Use Darkness!" Kameron shouted and Shadeon sprang forward, turning to shadow. The shadow surrounded the light in a shroud and I could almost feel them fighting. Shadow may be weak against light, but light was also weak against shadow. The light faded somewhat, dimming. And suddenly Shadeon tumbled to the floor. The light had vanished, and the Shadow Pokemon lay there unmoving.

Mors darted over, sniffing at her cautiously, as though expecting her to wake up and hit him. Arielle hurried to his side, as did Nemesis and they all seemed keen on seeing what damage his tumbled had caused him. He seemed okay, a little bruised, but other wise fine.

Shadeon on the other hand did not fare so well. The light had made her shrink so now she was no larger then the Eevee. Azriel whimpered and looked at me, as though imploring me to help. I put my hands on her, but Arielle reacted first.

"Nemesis," she said, "use your powers to heal her."

"Espe!" The purple Eeveelution agreed and jumped forward, placing her large paws on the injured Pokemon. Purple light swirled around her paws and Shadeon began moving. It worked, it worked well. The Shadow Pokemon stumbled to her feet and shook herself.

"_Shhaaa!"_ She hissed happily, almost bowling the Day Eeveelution over in her excitement.

Mors frowned jealously.

Azriel bounded over to sit beside the Umbreon and quirked his head on one side. "Eevee? Eve vee eevee?"

"Umbre bre bre," Mors replied.

"What are they on about?" Kameron asked.

Arielle paused and smiled, "I think the Eevee is asking about evolving," she replied.

I tried to listen, but was too far away to make out exactly what was happening, but I gathered that was the gist of it. I did not know if Shadeon had healed through the psychic Pokemon's effort or merely because Psychic powers made her stronger. It did not matter.

"_We are close," _ Fenrill replied.

"We are? Then let's keep moving, please!" I coaxed. We continued around the landing.

We entered a room and came upon a series of doors, each of them marked with an eye. The eyes moved, tracking us as we circled the room. It was perfectly round.

"Now which one?" I asked.

Somewhere, strange tinny music, almost like water music, began playing. A child laughed, then screamed. A thin blood curdling scream. Azriel hid beneath Kameron's trenchcoat. And the eyes began to blink.

"Can we please get out of here?" There was a tremor to Arielle's voice. We were all scared at what the world would throw at us next.

Another scream sounded from downstairs this time. It had a reedy quality to it, as though it were not exactly real.

"Fenrill, pick a damned door!" Kameron shrieked.

Fenrill circled the middle of the room, sniffing the air, then suddenly hurtled towards one, bouncing off it. The eye was black, as black as night.

Kameron immediately reached out to grab the handle, opening it, but it swung open anyway.

Behind us another scream sounded closer this time.

And we dashed into the room, slamming the door behind us.

This room was also circular, and smelt musty, almost like old paper. As our eyes adjusted to the fact that there was light here, I found myself stepping towards Kameron in horror. Arielle also gasped, stepping closer to us. Her Pokemon clustered about her feet, except for Mors, who bravely stepped forward. Shadeon, fully recovered, followed him across the floor. They stood at the foot of an old oak chair. It was not empty, and had not been empty for the last five years. There was a man sitting in it, or what had once been a man.

The room must have been shut away, and warm, because decomposition had not taken its normal course. The man in the chair was still identifiable as a man, even though his skin was parchment thin and clung to his bones like a shroud. His eyes were nothing but dried husks, and his hands, now gnarled like claws, were wrapped about a tarnished cage. In the cage was…

"_My sister!"_ Fenrill shrieked, leaping forward and staring down at the pathetic bundle of pink fur and feathers. The poor beast must have been trapped in the cage for years, and probably dead for nearly as long, although it was in a much better state then the man. "_Open it, please!"_ Fenrill begged. I swallowed back my repulsion at the mummified man and stepped forward.

The latch was old and rusted, but eventually I forced it open, with a screeching noise not unlike that of a tortured cat. The Mew literally fell out into my arms. It was warm, alive, but in a most alarming state. Mews must be immortal, for this one had surely not had food nor water in the last half decade.

"I'll take that," came a voice behind me as the door slammed open, hitting the wall with a splintering crash.

At the unexpected voice, we all turned and gazed into the manic blue eyes of Loki, the self-proclaimed God of Fire. His eyes now burned, with flecks of gold in the blue, and flames still caressed his bald scalp gently.

"No!" I declared loudly, cradling the injured Mew. I glanced about. "Arielle, look after her!" I handed the badly disturbed beast to the girl and whirled to face Loki once more. "We've bet you before Loki," I replied, "and we can do it again!"

He threw back his head and cackled. "Oh, such bold words!" Bringing his hands together the flames leapt along his limbs, moulding themselves into a ball of fire. 

"Duck!" Kameron bellowed and we leapt aside as the fireball scorched a furrow across the floor, turning the dry and mummified corpse to ash.

The smell was sickening.

"Go Marrill!" Kameron shouted.

"Yeah, and you Splash!"

"Fenrill? Fenrill!" I added.

The three Pokemon with water powers leapt into action. The Marrill sent a torrent of water, the Vaporeon used hydropump again and the Mew sent a flurry of bubbles exploding in the man's face.

Loki hit the ground, rolling aside, leaving a black scar on the floor and barrelled straight into Arielle's legs. She stumbled backwards, against the wall, her grip on the Mew loosening. Loki snatched it from her, just as Splash sent him tumbling backwards with another water attack.

He staggered to his feet, holding the broken Mew above him. "By the powers of the night and day, fire and ice, I call upon you, sister of the air to join with me!" He shouted. Purple light surrounded them and the water reverberated off, almost knocking us over. I stumbled and fell, catching my injured arm on the table. The pain exploded through me again. Shadeon leapt forward.

Glowing circlets of light suddenly arose around Loki's shoulders and he doubled over as though in great pain, his lithe body racked with agony. Feathered wings, seemingly composed of light exploded from his back, the skin peeling away around them, leaving openings. Shadeon hit him, turning herself to shadows, but there was suddenly an explosion of light and she hurtled backwards, knocking Kameron over.

"Um bre!" Mors bellowed, leaping across the water-drenched floor at the evolving man. He vanished and reappeared, hitting Loki in the head and sending him tumbling backwards. The broken Mew was flung aside, and Nemesis somehow managed to catch it.

"Eevee vee!" Azriel added his impressive battle cry to the melee, throwing himself whole-heartedly into it.

Loki cackled. "Not only the God of Fire, but the God of the heavens as well!" He shrieked, and drew his hands together.

A crack of thunder reverberated around the room and a bright flash sent all of us staggering. Azriel lunged, grabbing for the most delicate part of Loki's rather exposed anatomy. The smell of singing fur filled the air as the flames that harmlessly licked the man's body ignited his fur.

Loki threw back his head and howled. With one flaming hand he bashed the little Pokemon aside, and Azriel bounced off the wall and did not move.

"You still have your weakness!" I replied. "Go, all of you!"

"Not enough weaknesses!" He replied and suddenly a bolt of lightning arced across the floor, shooting through the water. Loki leapt over us and threw himself through the window, flying upwards and away.

The lightning bolt was not strong, but the water made it worse. It felt like we were burning inside. The force blasted each of us against the walls and then it died. And we were lying in water. My limbs spasmed weakly from the shock. 

"He got the power," Kameron muttered, recovering quickly. "If we don't stop him soon, we never will."

Arielle dragged herself to her feet. "That was Loki?" She asked. "He was terrible." She shuddered. November stood on his hindlegs and hugged her leg. He seemed none the worst for wear. In fact, nearly all of us seemed fine, with two exceptions. The broken Mew, which lay across Nemesis's back, although its injuries were old and not to do with the current encounter, and Azriel, who lay in a crumpled, scorched heap against the wall. He had hit it head first and had probably broken his neck. Shadeon darted over there, glancing him over and whimpering sadly. I scooped down and picked him up. His head seemed to feel lose somehow, like his neck was weaker. He did not move.

"Oh, Azriel," I whispered, stroking his brown fur. "You poor wee mite, so brave and yet so foolish. You died bravely."

"Not necessarily," Arielle said sternly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Set him on the table."

Curious, I put the broken Eevee on the table that rested against the wall, brushing away the glass from the shattered window first.

"Nemesis!" She called and the Espeon sprang agily onto the table. "And you too, Mew, you can heal right?"

"Mew," Fenrill nodded.

"Well, heal him!"

I understood what she was doing and stepped forward. "Let me help."

We all placed out paws or hands on the broken Eevee and I closed my eyes calling forth that familiar electricity feeling.

Pain exploded inside my head, little fragments leaping about it and I held on for as long as I could, until dizziness overwhelmed me and I collapsed into Kameron's arms.

"Something weird is happening," he said softly as I pried open my heavy eyelids.

Nemesis had staggered aside, and was being cradled in one arm my Arielle (who was cradling the flying Mew in the other), so that only Fenrill stood on the table. A purple-white light surrounded the both of them. Then the Mew let out a frightened cry and fell off the table. I picked her up, holding her close.

"_Something strange is taking place,"_ she informed me.

And indeed it was. Azriel seemed to be growing, his scorched fur turning darker, the colour of the night, safe for glowing golden circlets on his extremities and forehead. Then the purple-white light cleared and the midnight black Eon stood there, shaking his head groggily.

Arielle smiled. "Looks like Mors has some competition," she said.

"I think, all in all, it's time to go home," I replied. "Fenrill?"

The Mew was only to happy to oblige.

****

Epilogue

The Winged Mew was left in the capable hands of Arielle, who was somewhat shaken by the whole experience, but took it all in good grace. When you looked at the poor Mew, kept in a cage for five years, no food, no water, a mummifying corpse for companionship, you could understand why her dreams were having such an adverse effect on the world in general. She made a slow recovery, helped by such vital foods as chocolate and candy.

Kameron and I returned to the University to continue our tracking down of the four missing sisters.

Now, some of you will be wondering what was happening with Flora and Freyja. I would like to point out, Freyja had been given lodgings on campus, for a short period of time and Flora I was keeping with me constantly because she needed close companionship. Consequently, despite being smaller then her siblings, she was a lot more frisky now, and extremely affectionate, but more on her, and Freyja, and all of us, later!


	4. Procession of Freaks

# Procession of Freaks

Guest star in this story, Sam, appears courtesy of **Mistie Kidder**

"It's always the same," Kameron said, as I hold him for comfort. "It's the same dream I've been having these last few weeks, since we found Fenrill. Its terrible." I gently stroked his hair. Shadeon jumped up on the bed and nudged him.

"I know this is going to sound scary," I replied, "but would you allow Shadeon to animate the dream?"

The young man shuddered, and I knew he really was terrified of that dream, but I knew there had to be a purpose in it. You just don't have reocurring dreams for no reason! Especially not when you're an empath! It seemed plain to me that someone was trying to contact him, perhaps using Fenrill as a transmitter, since the dreams had not begun until we had met the Mew.

On the floor, one of the Vaporevees stirred and was tackled by Flora, who was getting very strong and gutsy now. 

"It's not that the dreams are scary," he replied after a pause, "not compared with half the things that we've been through! No, it's just the feeling of despair that they fill me with. I hate that feeling, that life is pointless, aimless, nothing but a living hell."

There was a rapping at the door, we both jumped, causing Maki to fall over laughing. He taunted us for a little bit then began grooming Kiki. I sighed and opened it. It was Doctor Warwick. Kameron immediately looked embarrassed.

Doctor Frances glanced at his watch. "Excuse me," he said sternly, "but I hardly think it is appropriate for a fifteen year old to be entertaining an older man in her quarters at five fifteen aye em."

"We haven't even begun entertaining you yet, Doctor Warwick!" I quipped. "Why, might I ask, are you here at this hour."

"I haven't been able to sleep," he replied, "so I thought I would do some late night scouting of the halls, you know, to look for young men in the girl's dorm, that sort of thing," he stared pointedly at Kameron, "and I heard voices in here, one male, so I just had to investigate."

"Flori," Florion stated accusingly. He didn't like the nightly interruption, felt it was disturbing his babies, although three of them were awake and wrestling anyway.

"Why are you really here?" Kameron asked, giving the Professor a penetrating look.

"Well, err," Doctor Warwick shuffled his foot in the carpet.

Kameron chuckled. "Don't tell me, you've come to Kat for relationship advice?!"

Doctor Frances blushed.

"Let me see," Kameron grinned like a pumpkin, "you fancy that blond girl who works in the cafeteria?"

Here the good Doctor just looked puzzled.

"Hrm… Maybe, nah…" Kameron paused, then turned his brown eyes to stare at Frances. "It's Freyja, isn't it?"

The Doctor's red face said it all. "How-how did you know?"

Kameron grinned, "I'm telepathic, remember."

"_No your not,"_ Fenrill replied sleepily, "_you're empathic, I'm telepathic. But it was a damned fine guess anyway."_

The Doctor did not of course hear any of this, not having any sort of psychic bond with the pink cat.

"Anyway," I continued, "what advice do you want from us? I'm fifteen for goodness sake! And you're…" I paused, I didn't actually know how old he was, "older." I concluded weakly.

"I'm twenty six," he replied. "Why does it matter?"

"Just that you should've had more experience then us," Kameron pointed out. "What do you want to know?"

"How I can capture the heart of a young lady."

__

"I could hypnotise her, if you want," Fenrill offered helpfully.

"I don't think that will be entirely necessary," I informed her, "now," I turned my attention back to Frances, "chocolates and flowers are always good."

Kameron rolled his eyes, "that's just cheesy," he stated, "no, I think the best way you can catch her heart at the moment is to be there for her, to keep her company and maybe get her a job and to listen to her rant about how terrible her life was."

I looked at him amazed. "Wow, that's pretty good Kameron!"

He shrugged, "what can I say? I've had some experience of this!" 

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "I never ranted about nothing!"

"Thank you," the Doctor replied, "I'll try that, now, tell me, what's a young man doing sneak into the women's dorm at four am?"

"I've been having these terrible dreams," Kameron stated, "perhaps you could help explain them?"

"I can try," he replied, "but you'd have to tell us first."

"Not exactly," Kameron replied. "Shadeon, come here!"

The Shadow Pokemon padded over and sat before him. Suddenly Azriel darted out from beneath a bench and ambushed Frances's foot. He was decidedly larger now, being an Umbreon and all, but despite our worries that he would change for the worst, he had not changed much at all. Although the added size made his playfulness a little harder to cope with! The doctor picked him up. And stared at him.

"When did little Azriel become an Umbreon?" He asked.

"When we healed him after our last fight with Loki," I explained. 

"Ah, anyway," Doctor Warwick placed Azriel on the ground, "let's hear about this dream."

"Shadeon," Kameron added, "do your stuff!"

"_Sshhhhhhaaaaaa!_" Once again we were surrounded by thick mist. And we were on a valley road. It was a terrible, wet road, with huge mud puddles expanding everywhere. It was raining. It was cold. We were surrounded by hoards of people, all of them wearing shapeless hooded cloaks and tattered robes that looked to resemble old sheets. They were shuffling, heads down, hearts broken. There was a band of pain about my ankle and looking down, I realised it was shackled, a tight metal clamp about it. The pain was irritating, and blood trickled around the shackle, suggesting that it had been on there a long time and was too tight. It seemed odd that we were no longer on the outside looking in, as we had been in Shadeon's previous vision.

I saw Kameron beside me, and almost failed to recognise him in a shapeless grey robe. His hair hung about his face in matted clumps, the length of it had been chopped off so that it barely covered his ears, the rest of it was jagged and wretched, like we felt. My own hair had been cut crudely too, I could feel the wind on the back of my neck.

"Where are we?" I asked, realising that something was missing from the dream, my Pokemon. I felt lost without my animal companions. 

"I would say that we are somewhere in Eastern Europe," came a voice from my left, "but I cannot be too sure."

"Silence!" A voice bellowed and someone pushed their way through the hoards to get close to us. It was a man, clad in black clothing, wearing a silver mask. In one hand he held a whip. This he raised menacingly. "You will be silent, child, or you will be punished!"

Instantly, silence ensued. We marched on, through the mud, feeling it squelch through the soles of our thin shoes. The pain, the despair, it surrounded us. There was no purpose, no life, just this endless march.

And then things returned to normal. I was seated on the bed, cradling Shadeon, whilst Kameron sat beside me and Doctor Frances Warwick crouched on the floor before us. Azriel was playing with his shoelace.

"That was weird," I stated, after a lengthy pause.

"Indeed, it was," the Doctor agreed, "now, these are your dreams Kameron?"

Kameron nodded.

"I think we've got some sort of psychic channelling their pain into the world for all to see," he stated. "All empaths and telepaths anyhow."

"_I didn't dream it," _Fenrill pointed out, bouncing into Kameron's lap and touching him lightly on the nose with one stubby paw.

"Fenrill's psychic and she didn't dream it," I translated.

"Well, human empaths and telepaths then," he recovered himself quickly. "Do you think this relates to the missing Mews?"

Fenrill frowned in concentration and then nodded. "_I can sense my sister there,"_ she replied, "_when I look into the boy's mind."_

"Hey, you looked into my mind!" Kameron snapped, "that's rude!"

"_Oh never fear, I will not share those thoughts."_ The Mew replied cheekily. "_I think we have a mystery to solve, any takers?"_

"I'm in," Kameron replied straight away. "If it gets rid of those dreams, I'll do almost anything…"

"Anything eh?" I queried, leaning towards him.

Doctor Frances frowned. "Excuse me you two," he said with fake sternness in his voice, "I know you're teenagers and the hormones are running rampant, but get back to the ground!" He chuckled.

"Yessir!" Kameron saluted. Fenrill almost fell off his lap, she was laughing so hard.

"We're going to need a bigger map," I stated, dragging out the atlas. "Fenrill, chose the page!"

Fenrill pounced on the atlas and immediately opened it at, you guessed it, Eastern Europe, she pointed to somewhere in the middle of Poland. It appeared to be some forest on some hills, nothing unusual for Poland.

"We're going there are we then?" I asked. "Can you take us there Fenrill?"

"_Like I said earlier, give me chocolate and I'll take you anywhere, even Siberia, to find my sister._" She quirked her head on the side, "_chocolate?"_

"Oh yeah, fine!" I pulled a block of chocolate from the refrigerator. The Mew polished it off in about five minutes, she wiped the chocolate from her face.

"_Are we ready to go now?" _She asked.

"Hang on, let us get ready first!" Doctor Warwick exclaimed. "Don't forget you guys, Loki is getting pretty powerful now, and you'll need all the help you can get."

I glanced at the hoards of Pokemon about the room. 

"We have to leave the pups behind," I stated, "and I should leave Flora too, she's a bit too young yet to cope with such adversity. But we can take the rest, right?"

Kameron nodded. "Come on guys!" He shouted. "We're going to Poland, those who want to join us, come here now, those who don't, stay asleep!"

"_Shhhhaa sha!"_

"Umbre!"

"Maki maki."

"Maki."

"Slash."

"Marrill."

"Freeeee."

"Sii!"

"Chiko rita!"

"Okay, is that everyone?" I asked as all the Pokemon minus the proud parents clustered around us. "We'll just put on some decent clothes, then let's be off!"

We were in a lonely valley, surrounded by high hills and tall trees. It appeared to be early morning. We picked our way out of the thorny bushes that surrounded us. Even Maki and Kiki looked disturbed.

"Okay, where are we, wise Doctor?" Kameron asked Doctor Warwick. He shrugged. 

"In a tree filled valley," he replied.

I scowled at him. "And that's why you have a degree and we don't?" I queried.

"Something like that."

I released Chiko from her ball, this seemed like the right type of habitat for her anyway and she hadn't been off campus for some time. 

"Chiko! Chikoritaaa!" She trilled.

"At least someone is happy to be here," I commented. Kameron grinned and took my hand in his.

"I don't mind it here," he said. "I think the mist is kind of pretty."

Mist shrouded the tops of the trees, caressing them. It was kind of pretty, but I could not hide the fact that after Shadeon's vision, I was a little bit on edge. Something flashed past in the bushes and Kameron quickly whipped out his Pokedex, but he was too slow.

"Ever studied the Pokemon fauna of Poland?" I asked Doctor Warwick.

He shook his head. "No, although the fauna is not that different from the ones you will remember from back home. Apparently Hinorashi are common, as are Otachi."

As if on cue, Maki suddenly whirled around and called excitedly. "Maki kiki!"

I hurried over to see what he had found, dragging Kameron with me.

"Oh, the poor thing!" I remarked. Before us was a torn up patch of grass and in the midst of it lay a strange Pokemon with rings about its body.

"Ootachi," Doctor Warwick remarked, about the same instance as Kameron pointed his Pokedex at it. "Also known as Furret. Looks like we have some trappers around here."

I crouched down, and the blue-eyed creature whimpered in fear, drawing back from me. Chiko immediately danced over and nuzzled it. 

"Chiko," she said reassuringly.

"We're not going to hurt you, little guy," I added.

"Ta!" It spat at me. The jaws of the trap had closed around its long tail, and its fur was caked with blood. 

Doctor Frances handed me a large chunk of wood. "Use this to wedge it open," he urged me. "I'll grab the creature and pull it out."

"It'll bite," Kameron cautioned. It was not mere paranoid, but a genuine warning.

I nodded and knelt down before the terrified creature. "Kameron," I suggested, "you pull the jaws apart, I'll jam this between them and Doctor Warwick, you pull it out!"

Kameron nodded and took a firm grip on the sides of the trap, heaving them apart. As quickly as I could I slammed the piece of wood between them and Frances grabbed the Ootachi, then squealed as it closed its sharp teeth about his forearm.

"Get it off!" He urged. 

"Chiko?" I suggested, "do you want to put it to sleep?"

"Ko!" She nodded and sprayed it with light powder. Its grip lessened and Doctor Warwick managed to remove it from his arm.

"Well, that was painful," he said, dabbing at the bite marks with a handkerchief. I was left holding the sleeping animal.

"Now what?" I asked. "Do I heal it and we let it go?"

"Hrm," the Doctor pondered, "I could, I suppose, take it back to the laboratory to study…"

I scowled at him, although I knew he was joking. And I placed my hands on its wounded tail. The familiar feeling coursed through my veins and I set the creature on the ground. Its tail had stopped bleeding and the sleeping powder's effect had been reversed. It scampered away, somewhat slowly.

Suddenly someone shouted at us in a language we couldn't understand. We whirled to find ourselves facing a rather burly looking man with animal carcasses strung from a rack on his back. In one hand he held a rather nasty looking club.

"I don't think he's too happy about us releasing the Ootachi," Doctor Warwick muttered. "Perhaps we should get the heck outa here!"

Glancing around fitfully, we made a run for it. The hunter did not follow, but something else did.

A short while later we found ourselves on a road, and collapsed panting to the tarmac. Or rather the shingle, as it appeared to be largely a dirt road. 

"Well, that was invigorating," Doctor Warwick grinned.

Fenrill sat down on the road. "_I can't feel her,"_ she said softly. "_I've lost her."_

I stroked her on the head, scratching her behind the ears. She tried to hide a purr. "Don't worry, we'll find her," I reassured her.

__

"I feel empty," she replied, "_lost."_ She curled up in my arms.

Suddenly the sky flashed golden and thunder rolled across the heavens. Fenrill's fur stood on end.

"There's a thunder storm brewing!" Doctor Warwick remarked intelligently.

"Maki…" Maki rolled his eyes.

I chuckled. "State the obvious," I translated for Doctor Frances. He grinned. 

"We should seek cover." Kameron pointed out. Maki sprang from his characteristic place on my shoulder and suddenly sprang down the far bank.

I glanced at Doctor Frances. "We follow?" I queried.

He nodded in affirmation and I scrambled down the bank after my runaway Pokemon. Fat droplets of rain plopped to the ground around us.

Maki led me to what appeared to be a cave, formed by two rocks leaning into each other and covered in moss and bits of fallen trees. He dragged out something and handed it to me. It was a stuffed Vaporeon toy, obviously well loved for it had a certain worn look to it.

"Strange…" I pondered, peering into the depths of the cave and suddenly something sprang out at me.

"Hoothoot!" It hooted. I stumbled back in alarm.

Maki, who knew owls love to eat small furry Pokemon, immediately dived into Kameron's trenchcoat pocket.

My heart was pounding, but I leaned against the tree and took some deep breaths. It was just a small, circular bird.

A moment later it fluffed out all its feathers and hooted at me once more. I waved my hands at it, hoping to frighten it away, but it flew towards my face, talons outstretched.

"Maki!" Maki shrieked and a beam of light shot from his forehead and sent it tumbling into the ground, flapping weakly.

A startled voice came from behind us. "What are you doing to my Fidget? Puffy, deal with them!"

Suddenly a Coffin' materialised. It opened its mouth and some noxious fumes started to pour out.

I held up my hands, "no, you don't understand, we don't want to hurt…." And then I started coughing crazily and fell to my knees.

"Dancer!" Kameron shouted, "blow the fumes away!"

"Freee!" The Butterfree trilled, happy to be doing something. She flapped her wings, sending the smoke cloud back. The attacker, and my first thought was that it was a boy, stumbled backwards, recalling his Coffin'.

"Now, please," Doctor Warwick tried to explain, "can we be civilised without fighting?"

I dragged myself to my feet. "Your Hoothoot attacked me," I tried to explain, "Maki was just defending me."

The newcomer nodded. "She does that," the person said, and I realised from the voice that it was a female. But a female with a particularly boyish figure. 

Fenrill sat herself on the roof of the dwelling and stared dejectedly at her tail.

The woman frowned. "Is that a Mew?" She asked. "I thought they were just a myth!"

Fenrill looked up at her with bright blue eyes and tilted her head on one side. "Mew?" She enquired sweetly.

"Um, sorry to interrupt and all," Kameron butted in, "but I'm getting a bit damp here, can we kinda like get out of the rain before I drown?"

Doctor Warwick sighed and rolled his eyes. "Hi," he said, "my name's Frances, Doctor Frances Warwick."

"He's a Pokemon Ecologist." I explained.

"Which makes him very popular with the girls," Kameron cracked. Frances rewarded him with a glare.

"I'm Kataryna," I interrupted, "and this little bundle of fur is Maki. And as for this obnoxious young man… This is Kameron, my boyfriend."

"Watch who you're calling a boy," Kameron joked.

The woman looked at us as if we were completely insane. "I'm Samantha," she said, "now come inside, if we can all, err, fit…"

"Oh, that's okay," I said with a grin. "We'll just leave Kameron out there, a cold shower will do him good!"

Samantha picked up the Hoothoot, which was just starting to try and flap upwards and we all hurried into the dank little cave. Maki immediately placed the stuffed Vaporeon in Samantha's lap and then set about dismantling Kameron's Pokedex, until the boy removed it from his curious paws.

I moved into the small, for want of a better word, den. The Hoothoot took a roost above the entranceway, glaring balefully at Maki. It was a rather small den, and we managed to sit down on what appeared to be a picnic blanket. Maki used his star to illuminate the room.

"So," I asked, "whatever are you doing a forsaken place like this?"

The Coffin' did a little loop in the air. Sam smiled. "I'm trying to find a new home for my Coffin'," she replied.

"Coffing…" The Coffin' agreed, hiding behind Samantha's head.

"She's a little shy," Samantha stated. "Anyway, my wanderings led me here of all places, and I was wandering down the road when a strange noise caught my attention. It sounded like a lot of shouting and many people moving. Being naturally curious," I nodded in agreement, "I investigate, and came across what appeared to be an extremely large group of people, all of them marching along the dirt road."

Kameron grabbed my arm, tightly and squeezed it. "My dream," he mouthed.

I nodded, but said nothing. Doctor Warwick just sat there, staring at her in fascination.

"Continue," he suggested.

"Anyway," the woman continued, "I decided I better stay well away, maybe observe from a distance, but then they became aware of my presence. As I tried to sneak away, they came after me, two of them, clad in dark clothing and hoods. I released my Pokemon quickly, hoping they would help me, but these people were too fast and they could do things no normal people could… I found myself unable to move, like I was paralyzed."

"Like when you're caught in a disable attack?" Doctor Warwick asked, sounding fascinated. We were all fascinated.

She nodded, "I guess so… Anyway, Fidget and my little Vulpix escaped, as did Puffy, although they followed us at a distance. As they grabbed me by the wrists, one of their hoods slipped back and I saw that they had pointed ears, like…" she paused, staring at us with wide eyes, "you're never going to believe this, but like a Kadabra!"

I gulped. I had no great love of Kadabras (for obvious reasons – my enemies had used them against me many times…). "You're saying these people were Kadabras?"

She shook her head, "not quite Kadabras, but like them, with the ears and long thin faces, but they looked human as well."

"Some kind of mutant," Kameron stated, we had read about such things in cheap paperbacks, but had never thought they could be real. "So, what happened next?"

"They took me up to the group of people and slammed a band about my ankle, see," she pulled up her trouser leg to reveal a dark bruise. "And then they made us march along. I wasn't paralysed by then you see. My Tauros, Crete, they took away from me, tying him up as well, and my Ditto, well, it shifted into a scarf shape so they could not see it."

"We marched for days," she continued, "they stopped to give us water on occasion, and bits of dried bread, and we saw that many of them were Kadabra, although there were also Abra amongst them. The leader appeared to be an Alakazam-like woman, who dressed in nothing but a huge cloak. If we lingered, we were dragged cruelly forward by the ankle bands, if we talked, we were whipped."

"Just like your dream," I whispered to Kameron, "do you think someone called us here?"

__

"My sister," Fenrill remarked, "_she called us here, because she is here and she cannot help. Even the powers of one Mew are nothing against the powers of many psychic Pokemon, especially ones led by something as intelligent as an Alakazam. She is here to help them, but I am afraid that the Mew Hunter might be after her too."_

Samantha looked confused as the Mew went through her speech that the woman could not understand, yet Kameron and I nodded. Frances and Sam shared a confused look.

"It appears they can understand it," the Doctor concluded.

"_So could you if you'd learn to listen,"_ Fenrill replied. "_We must find my sister and protect her."_

"But what about all these people? We cannot leave them here to be tortured and used as slaves. What exactly are they using them for?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't anything too terrible.

Samantha paused, "well, at night they left us in chains but left us only guarded by two of them, so we could do some talking. I found a young man called Stefan. He said that years ago the air of this country had been polluted by a strange substance – it was actually the thought of the pollution that brought us here, because I thought Puffy might fit in, anyway, this pollution caused mutations in the children, they were born with ears and tails, along with the powers of Abras. It was not known why these psychic Pokemon were the only ones that appeared, but still, it happened.

"These children were often abandoned or sent to institutes, such as orphanages, and most of them grew up hating or fearing humans. They were mistreated, being regarded as little more than animals and having no legal rights. Two years ago, they all disappeared. Nobody knew what happened to them. And then people starting vanishing, mostly youngsters out in the fields, or vagrants, anyone who was alone basically. The President investigated, but nothing was ever found. I guess now we have our answer."

"That is the most bizarre story I've ever heard," Doctor Warwick exclaimed.

"Um, Doctor Frances," I reminded him, "we did tell you about the haunted house didn't we?"

"And the Alakazam that wanted to take over the world," Kameron added.

"And the secret breeding ground of the Lapras."

"Okay, okay," he rose his hands in surrender, "_one_ of the strangest stories I've ever heard. You kids sure know how to collect them, don't you!"

Samantha stared at us in confused fascination. "You must have some tales," she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Do we ever! One day I'll write them all down!"

"We can't forget that one about the colony of ant Pokemon living beneath Celadon City," Kameron exclaimed.

"Yes," I said slowly, "we can, and we shall." That was certainly one I would never write down, it was just too bizarre, even now I could not believe it had happened.

__

(note to readers: sorry, I'm in a weird mood at present, please forgive me!).

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Hang on," Doctor Frances stated, "I believe you folks are being rude – Samantha has not finished her tale yet."

"Oh, sorry!" I hadn't realised, I had got distracted. Kameron did that to me. Sometimes I worried that we were too occupied with each other and tended to overlook more important things. As if anything could be more important then Kameron!

"Anyway," she continued, looking quite non-plussed, "I had been there about a fortnight when the cloaked guards had some sort of party. We were roped together, and bound to a tree. Only, because the guards were distracted, Kabuki transformed into a crowbar and I managed to force myself out. Then Puffy sent a choking gas over everyone so I could sneak away, free Crete and get the heck out of there. It was terrible. And if it wasn't for my Pokemon I would still be trapped." She patted Puffy. The Coffin' looped happily in the air.

"We have to free them," Kameron stated.

Doctor Frances and I both nodded in agreement.

"But how?" Samantha asked.

"_With the help of my sister, we could show them the error of their ways," _ Fenrill suggested, "_we have a number of very strong psychic and dark Pokemon here – me, Shadeon, Azriel, Maki, Dragosi… I am sure we should be able to do something."_

I nodded, "and a Ditto too, that could be extremely useful."

Doctor Warwick smiled, "I suppose I should have brought Puppy," he said. Puppy was his Growlithe, who was not a Puppy at all, despite the name.

"Shadeon will be best against the psychic types," Kameron pointed out. "How many of them are there?"

Samantha pondered for a moment. "Between two and three dozen," she declared. 

"And how many prisoners?"

"Too many to count."

"We have to stop them – Fenrill, can you find your sister?"

Fenrill quirked her head on one side. "_I think so."_

"Good, then let's track her down!"

*

We made our way carefully along the side of the hill, whilst above us Fenrill hovered in the air, doing the occasional little twist and turn as she orientated on her missing sister.

Suddenly she paused and pointed. "_That way!_" She declared.

Following her carefully, we made our way up a slippery scree slope. Suddenly Kameron reached down and pushed me so that I slipped behind a bush. Startled, I grabbed onto his ankles, dragging him with me.

"What did you do that for?" I asked him.

"Sshhh!" He hissed at me urgently, "someone's coming!" Seeing our example, Samantha hid herself, dragging Doctor Warwick with her.

A moment later, two hooded figures made their way up the slope, mere feet from where we stood. Kameron clung to me as we watched them walk past. I saw the edge of one's cloak rise so that its foot, a great gnarled claw-like thing, was clearly visible. A moment later, its tail dragged across the ground behind it. They had passed us by, and we were just beginning to let out a sigh of relief, when one of them paused. It reached up with long fingered hands and pushed back its hood, revealing a face that was mostly human, although the nose and chin were stretched grotesquely into a muzzle and its ears were greatly extended. It appeared to sniff the air, them muttered something to its companion. The second morphic mutant also pulled back its hood, its eyes glowing as it tested the air for the presence of life.

It was only a matter of time before they would catch us.

Suddenly smoke started to pour into the air, as Puffer floated out from the cover of the bush and tried to confuse them. I nudged Kameron.

He nodded, drawing out the special Pokeball, "go Shadeon," he whispered, as the Shadow Eon sprang into the smoke. Suddenly Puffer came tumbling out of her little smoke cloud and bounced in amongst us.

"Oh no! Confusion!" I whispered, as I fell choking to the ground, trying to drag myself away from the filth that tried to coat my lungs in foulness.

Suddenly I felt something grab me, something that was not quite physical, more like… energy. I struggled against it and I was dragged from the bush, and held, suspended in the air. Maki, clinging desperately to my shoulder, scrabbled for a better hold, then slipped.

The Kadabra said something in Polish that I did not understand. Fenrill, partly obscured by the shrubbery, sprang out and aimed a psychic blast at it. The other morphic-Kadabra shouted a warning, and waved its hand, sending a beam of psychic light to meet that of the Mew's. The two beams met, and exploded in a spray of vivid violet. 

Now the Kadabra-man that held me suspended waved its other hand, and Kameron too was lifted from the bush, held in the air beside me. The mutant chuckled softly to itself. Both of us were unable to move, and hovering at such a height, that if we were dropped, then injury would surely result. Not to mention that I had housed all my Pokemon safely in their Pokeballs afore we had set off on the trek, comfortable in the knowledge that I could call them out, should the situation demand. Alas, I had been wrong…

Shadeon, not held back by fears of hurting us, obviously, leapt at the Kadabra attacking Fenrill, turning herself into shadow as she did so. I knew what she was trying to do - devolve the creature, but a moment later she stood on the ground, shaking her head in confusion. It appeared you could not devolve these mutant Pokemon. As if recognising her powers, instead of attacking her psychically, the Kadabra kicked at her with its hideously deformed foot. With a yelp she tumbled into the bushes.

And then, suddenly, everything went dark.

*

When I awoke, the smell of sweat and fear surrounded me. I blinked as a flashlight was shone in my eyes and found myself staring into a golden mask, carved into the shape of a Kadabra's head. It seemed oddly familiar – a figment from Kameron's dream.

My head throbbed. And Maki was nowhere in sight. In fact, all my Pokemon were missing. I glanced around, but Kameron too, was missing, and I was surrounded by hollow-eyed men and women, all of them looking two steps from death.

"Where are we?" I asked, as the jackal-masked creature moved away.

"Sssh," hissed a voice in imperfect English. "You speak, you get bad pain. No good to speak. You are in," the speaker paused for a moment, as if struggling to gain the right words, "Camp of Death."

"Why?" I asked, but the hollow-eyed man who had spoken to me merely shook his head and would say no more.

I sat down in the darkness and stared at the stars above, shrouded by clouds. And I worried – I worried about where Kameron was being held captive and how Sam and Frances were faring. But most of all, I worried about my Pokemon, Maki and all the others. Had they been taken captive? Or had they escaped?

As I watched the moon pass across the sky, unable to sleep out of worry and fear, I felt something cold nudge my hand and almost jumped in fear. A pair of blazing red eyes shone at me from the darkness.

"_Shaaa,"_ the shadow Pokemon whispered.

"Shadeon!" I hissed loudly. "You got away!" Of course she would, the Pokemon could pass through darkness as if she were naught but a shadow. No cage could hold her. And her presence here meant that Kameron could not be far away. I peered at her dark shape, umbra in the darkness, and fancied she seemed fainter then usual. When I tentatively reached out to touch her, she felt like nothing more then cloud, or mist. Kameron must not be that near, and she must be suffering intense pain just being this far from him. Provided her special Pokeball had not been taken by the Kadabra-freaks as well. "I need you to find Kameron," I informed her, "and Samantha and Doctor Warwick, if you can get that far. Please!"

"_Shaaa, shaaa!"_ She said eagerly, and I knew she would do so, to the best of her ability. And then, she sprang into the air and disappeared into the shadows.

"What was that?" The old man hissed, glancing furtively about, reassuring himself that he was not being watched by the guardians.

"A friend," I replied. "And a good one."

*

_To take a break from my normal writing style, the following bit is not written from my point of view. It was retold to me in this fashion from Doctor Francis Warwick, therefore, I am only assuming it is the truth, for he is a scientist and a scholar and I doubt such a person would tell untruths. I am writing this so you know what happened to the others, once we left them behind._

I wanted to help them, I really did, but Samantha held me back and once we saw them dragged away assured me it was better for us to remain free. 

"The dark Pokemon went after them," she informed me, and for a moment I thought she meant Azriel. "The odd one," she added, "what is that thing?"

"Oh, right, Shadeon," I replied, "a mutant Eevee. I believe it always must stay near its Pokeball, so it will be with Kameron for the moment. Should we follow them?"

Samantha chuckled, "of course we should," she replied. "But what happened to the Mew?"

"Fenrill?" I called hesitantly, but the Mew did not reveal herself. "Do you think they caught her?"

The young woman shrugged. "Possibly. Anyway, we must proceed as we can." She drew out a Pokeball, "Foxfire, sweetie, can you track the nasty creatures?"

The little Vulpix shuddered slightly then nodded. It was extremely young, having only three tails, instead of the usual six, yet it showed the same sort of dedication to its Trainer that I had seen already in Kataryna's Pokemon. She set the creature on the ground and after a moment, twisting its mouth as if at something distasteful, it "vul'd" and trotted off, taking great care to never get to far from us.

"Without Kameron and Kataryna's Pokemon I think we're going to have some difficulty," I stated, in a cheerful enough manner. Apparently though, Samantha took this as something of an insult.

"There's nothing wrong with my pokemon," she scowled, showing the same sort of fire I have seen in you Kat. Determination can be a wonderful aide to one's cause.

"Oh, I was not complaining about your Pokemon," I tried to explain, stuttering a little (as you know I am prone to around women, Kat), "merely that you do not have any that are particularly strong against Psychic types."

Samantha then pointedly stared at me. "I have a Ditto," she said simply.

"Um well, very well then. I think I have an idea. Do you think your Ditto could assume the likeness of one of them?"

"Of course he can!" Samantha exclaimed, "provided we have one come in contact with us. That way it is much easier."

And so we trailed the morphs, armed with a confused Coffin', a baby Vulpix, an irritable Hoothoot, a Taurus and the dependable Ditto.

We had not travelled far when Foxfire stopped and whimpered, the fur on her neck standing on end. She shuddered. At first we thought it meant that we had been found out, but then a pair of gleaming red eyes blinked at us from the darkness.

"Shadeon?" I recognised her immediately, from both her size (quite large at the moment) and also the fear exhibited by the Vulpix. Natural Pokemon were understandably somewhat disturbed by the presence of this unnatural mutation, and although Kameron and Kataryna's Pokemon had become used to her presence, conditioned, one might say, Samantha's Pokemon had not. Shadeon stepped from the shadows into the slightly lighter part of the darkness and I could see that she was more shadow then real, something which meant she had travelled almost too far from her Pokeball.

"Have you found them?" I asked her, as Foxfire hid behind Samantha's leg, shuddering madly. 

She nodded, understanding at once my inability to understand her language.

"Are they okay?"

She shrugged, seeming somewhat confused. I took this to mean that they were alive, but maybe not in a particularly happy state of affairs. I may have been wrong with this interpretation.

"Are they together?" Samantha asked, perhaps a little more sensibly.

"_Shaaaa…"_ She shook her head furiously. They were not together. That boded less well.

"We need to find Fenrill," I continued. "Did they take her too?"

Again, Shadeon shook her head.

"Could you find her for us?"

It appeared the answer, again, was no. That meant Fenrill was out of Shadeon's travelling range. We needed to find her, but alas, were somewhat lacking in terms of Psychic types. Shadeon, the only free Pokemon that could find her, was unable to travel far enough to actually reach her. 

"Can you at least point us in the right direction?" Samantha, very sensibly, asked. I was beginning to rather like this woman, her mind seemed to be in the right place.

"_Shaaa sha!"_ Shadeon nodded and pointed her muzzle in the direction we had come from, more or less. She seemed to be trying to tell us something more, but I, alas, could not understand her complicated gestures and movements. Suddenly a shudder passed down her spine and she turned and disappeared into the shadow. I guessed the distance was getting too painful for her. We had not properly tested how far she could travel from her Pokeball, but we had discovered that anywhere further than a hundred feet was painful to her.

So, marking this place in our minds, we set back, in search of the missing Mew.

The landscape around here was light woodland, and rather damp, which made tracking of any kind extremely difficult. Add to this the fact that it was dark and that Mews do not have particularly noticeable scents. It took us the next few hours to find the Mew, and then it was Fidget, the haughty little owl, that did so. She came flapping back to us, hooting madly and perched on Samantha's shoulder, before flapping off again.

Fenrill lay in the long grass, her tail over her nose, almost rolled up in a ball. I quickly scooped her up and she rolled over, opening her blue eyes.

"Mew," she insisted, "me-ew, ew."

I had no hope of understanding her, but all signs indicated that she too had been affected by the Kadabra-morph's confusion attack. Her pupils were narrow, despite the darkness, and her eyes seemed unable to focus. All signs of a confused Pokemon. It appeared we were, indeed, on our own.

Suddenly we heard footsteps coming towards us, and Fidget hooted in alarm. I gallantly took Samantha by the arm and pulled her behind a sheltering rock, still cradling the Mew in one arm. In the darkness I could see the shape of one of the morphs. A lone one.

I fancied I could see Samantha smile slyly as she drew out a Pokeball, releasing her Taurus.

The three-tailed bull saw the danger immediately, and scraped one foot through the dirt, lowering its wide horns to charge. He was a pretty impressive specimen , if I do say so myself. Just as the cloaked morph realised the presence of Crete, he charged. It threw up its hands, preparing some sort of deadly Psychic attack, but the Taurus clearly had the advantage, not only of surprise, but also because it had a natural advantage over psychic types. Almost before the purple light had formed in its hands, the bull sent it flying into the dirt, then reared up on its hind feet and trampled it enthusiastically. Samantha had not said a word, but had a look of intense concentration on her face as though she were making every move with her Pokemon. It was almost as if they had a psychic bond, but if that were the case, the Kadabra morphs could have sensed it as surely as they had sensed the presence of Kameron and Kataryna.

As soon as the creature had stopped moving, Samantha hurried to its side, and Crete stopped what he was doing and stepped nimbly to the side. She bent over it, removing the cloak from its battered and bloody form and establishing the fact that it was, if not dead, then no longer any sort of threat.

"It is some weird sort of mutant," she remarked, displaying its features for the both of us to see. 

I tried to hide the fact that I was feeling somewhat queasy. It had the standard features of a kadabra, but they were twisted into those of a human. Samantha stepped over to it easily, removing its cape and the mask, draping the former across her shoulders.

"Now what?" I asked.

She stroked her chin in thought. "Well we can't really just leave it here, or they will find it and follow us, but at least we have proven something."

"Yes?"

"They can be beaten."

"Maybe, but what are two people and five Pokemon supposed to do versus an army of psychic morphs?"

"Be very subtle." She replied.

In the end we dragged the dead morph into the bushes and buried it under a pile of leaves and dirt. I doubted it would remain hidden for long, but it was better then just leaving it in the open for anyone to see.

Samantha released her little Owl. "Fidget," she said carefully to it, "I want you to go out there and see if you can find Kat and Kameron, okay? Or, failing that, Shadeon. You better behave yourself too, or it will be on your head." She drew out her Ditto. "Kabuki, go with her, okay?"

The Ditto changed form so that it was also, more or less, a HootHoot. The two of them quarrelled for a brief moment, then flapped off into the darkness.

"Okay," Samantha continued, "now we have to revive that Mew."

We lay Fenrill down on top of the cloak we had taken from the morphic being and both leaned over her. Her breathing seemed fine, although a little irregular, but that was not what disturbed us. What disturbed us was that her eyes were wide open, a bright blueness staring into nothing. Samantha ran her fingers through the legendary creature's short, pink fur and I must confess, I had experienced a similar feeling to do the same. 

"How can we awaken her?" She asked, staring at me as if I had the answers.

I shrugged. "I do not know," I confessed.

She seemed almost accusing in her expression. "And you call yourself an Ecologist," she said with a sigh.

"I study wild Pokemon," I replied calmly, "not legendary ones."

"What would you use to waken a normal Pokemon?" She asked. "Oh, let me see, a Pokeflute?"

"That might work," I felt a little abashed, being upstaged by a woman who lacked in my Scientific knowledge, yet still knew more then me. "If we had one."

"Well," she replied, "as a matter of fact, I do." And she dragged something from her knapsack.

"Where did you get that?" I didn't mean to say it, it just burst out. I began to feel as though I were making a fool of myself. Women tended to make me a little nervous at the best of times.

"I stole it from a little kid," she replied, almost bitterly, "what do you think? I won it in a Pokemon Battle."

"You must be a good Trainer," I hastily tried to repair the damage I had caused.

She brushed her hand through her hair. "Hardly," she scoffed, "just better then those amateurs." And she brought the Flute to her lips, blowing over it delicately.

The noise, when it came, was lighter than the wings of a Butterfree, sweeter then the heart of a Chansey. It seemed to make the dance with life and with it came the stirring of a fresh breeze.

The Mew blinked once, twice, her eyes slowly gaining focus.

The tune played on, as Samantha's fingers danced gaily over the notes. And I felt my heart dance with it.

"Me-eewwwww!" Fenrill shrieked suddenly. Her hands clenching and unclenching. She began spasming, still shrieking. We both grabbed her, in an attempt to stop her making so much noise, and she buried her head in my shoulder and began shaking with sobs.

"Fenrill? Fenrill? Are you okay?" I asked, although it was obvious that she was not.

"Mew," she replied, wiping her large blue eyes. "Mew-ew." She nodded sharply, curling her tail around my neck.

"We need to find your sister." I stated.

Suddenly a Hoothoot came swooping through the darkness to perch on Samantha's shoulder.

"Hoot hoot!" There was urgency in its voice. Samantha picked up on its meaning.

"They're coming! We must run!"

They must have heard the shrieks of the poor Mew.

Cradling Fenrill to my chest, I ran across the field as best I could, raindrops beating against my face, matting my hair close to my scalp. Behind me, Samantha ran too, whilst around her head her Hoothoot flapped and dove, making no noise, but still resembling a grey ghost. My foot stumbled beneath me, crumpling under me and I fell, tumbling down a slight incline, and into what appeared to be a dark pit. Fenrill clung to me desperately, making no noise but a tiny whimper as we fell through darkness and into a pile of dirt. It knocked the wind from me, but did not hurt me.

A moment later Samantha landed beside me, on her feet, having jumped down the same hole. We crouched in the darkness, horrified at the thought of being discovered, and aware that if they had ignored us once, they might ignore us again.

Except that Fenrill was psychic, and they seemed able to pick up on psychic beings.

Suddenly something was thrown over both of us, the cloak that we had removed from the creature. It was heavy, almost smothering and I was not in a particularly good state. The smell was bad too, it reeked of sweat and poor hygiene. Above us, I could hear footsteps, and a few pieces of dirt showered down on us, but the voices above shouted to each other and then were gone into the distance.

Samantha dragged the blanket off of us and wrapped Fenrill in it. The little Mew whimpered some more.

"Why didn't they find us?" I asked in a hoarse whisper.

A shrug was my reply, "I think the blankets somehow muffle the psychic signal," Samantha added as an explanation. "Maybe they wear them so they can track psychics without stumbling upon each other."

You just had to admire this woman.

"Now what?" I replied, trying to drag myself to my feet. I think I had broken my ankle, for the pain was unbearable, but I was hardly to confess that to Samantha, was I? She had already been made too aware of my frailties.

Samantha drew a Pokeball from her belt and called out her tiny Vulpix pup. Foxfire stared up at us out of bright orange eyes. Her body glowed slightly, as do most Fire Pokemon, and we could vaguely see the outlines of the area we were in. It appeared to be some sort of underground tunnel. The way we had entered, the pit, rose above us, its sides steep and crumbling, quite impossible to climb, with or without a rope.

"Looks like we are stranded," I stated.

"Not quite." Foxfire pointed her muzzle into the darkness and shot out a thin beam of fire. It was nothing powerful yet, but it was enough to illuminate a passageway, leading deeper under the earth. "If we can't go up, we go down." Samantha said, almost ominously.

"Right." I didn't want her to see how nervous I was.

Following the lead of the tiny fox, and leaning on the wall for support, I hobbled down the passage, whilst beside me Samantha strode almost boldly, placing each foot in exactly the right place. She would not stumble, she would not fall down a pit. In her arms she cradled the swathed form of Fenrill, who lay quietly, almost like a baby. Stabs of pain erupted from my ankle, as I hobbled onwards, into a darkness lit only by the fire of the baby Vulpix.

And then the passage opened up, and Fenrill cried out from Samantha's arms, "Mew"ing in pain I thought. But I may have been wrong. Foxfire's weak flames only lit a few feet, but it was easy to see and feel that the place we had entered was extremely large, a cavern of some description.

Suddenly something jumped in front of us.

"Sycth, sycth!" Two Sycthers, slashing at us with their blades leapt from the darkness. Their eyes seemed to glow red in the part light. Foxfire whimpered but bravely stood her ground.

I really wished I had brought my Puppy.

Suddenly the HootHoot swooped down and transformed itself into a Sycther too. The Ditto retalliated by slashing its blades through the air too. Nobody had made any move to attack yet, the slicing blades seemed more for intimidation so far.

Fenrill whimpered again.

"Go Crete!" Samantha shouted, releasing her Tauros. At least the cavern was big enough for the rather large bull. It would not do to let the Coffin' free here – for in such a space the gas would affect us as much as the attacking Pokemon. Crete snorted and pawed the ground, lowing his impressive horns in preparation for a charge.

"MEW!" Fenrill shrieked, and the Sycther stumbled back. Crete rose his head and quirked it at the pink cat.

"Taurrr?" He bellowed.

"Sycther?" The Sycther queried.

"Mew, mew mew mew!"

And then, both Sycther bowed to her.

I began to wish I could understand Pokemon as well as you, Kat, for surely it would make things less confusing.

And then the Sycther walked further into the cavern, beckoning with their blades for us to follow. Samantha, without even looking at me, recalled her Tauros, picked up Foxfire (Kabuki flapped to her shoulder, a Hoothoot again). We followed them further into darkness, and due to my injury, I had to lean on Samantha for support. It was not something I was proud doing, but it was necessary. The pain was pretty terrible.

"Are You alright?" She asked me.

I gritted my teeth against the pain. "Fine, just fine, but I have hurt my ankle."

"You poor thing," she said, and I wondered if she was being sarcastic or not.

We walked (or in my case, hobbled) further into darkness.

And after a time we reached the end of the cavern. The two Scythers stepped aside, bowing all the while, and nodded at something we could not see in the darkness. We moved closer, Samantha holding Foxfire towards it, almost as if the little Vulpix were a torch.

It was a Mew, almost completely encased in ice.

"Mew!" Fenrill shrieked and leapt from Samantha's arms and onto the block of ice. How it had not melted I did not know, for although it was cold in here, it was hardly that cold. The Mew placed her hands on the ice block and closed her eyes. A keening sound filled the ear.

"Mmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…."

Dirt showered down on us from the ceiling, Samantha cradled her Vulpix close to her chest and I crouched there, leaning against the wall, too terrified to move. The ice that encased the Mew began to crack. The two Scythers shielded their faces with their blade.

And suddenly the ice exploded, showering us all with shrapnel. And before us, the Mew dragged herself into a sitting position. Fenrill floated down to sit beside her.

The new Mew had a greenish tinge to its fur, and her tail terminated in a ball of spines. She seemed dazed, which was hardly a surprise, given the state of affairs.

"Right," Samantha stated. "We've found the Mews. Now I guess we ask them for help." She knelt down in front of the two Mews. "Please, help my friends."

Fenrill nodded, and put a finger to Samantha's lips to silence her. "Mew, mew mew mew meeew me-ewww mew," she explained to the other Mew.

"Me-ew, mew, ew mew." It appeared to agree.

Fenrill nodded at us. "Mew," she said, making some complicated hand gestures.

The two Scythers stood to attention, saluting with their blades. Suddenly the ground beneath us began shaking and from it erupted the rounded heads of Digletts and Dugtrio.

"Dig-lett," one croned, and the others echoed it.

"They're going to help us save our friends?" I asked.

Fenrill nodded. "Mew."

* * *

__

Now, back to me again, yes me, I know you've been missing me, right?

As dark passed through its zenith and was well on the way to dawn, Shadeon returned once more. She crawled under my chin and nuzzled me. But she could not stay long, since her Pokeball, which she was bound to, was somewhere else. She brought with her a message of love from Kameron, and informed me that Doctor Frances and Samantha had escaped. Then she had to disappear again, to spend the daylight hours in her Ball. 

I felt empty without my Pokefriends around, and hoped that Maki and Kiki had made it away. Maki had not, of course, been in his ball at the time of capture, so they couldn't have caught him too, could they? And I did not even have the companionship of Kameron. It was like an emptiness in the pit of my heart, a hollow feeling. A feeling of being incomplete. And I knew I was incomplete without Kameron. Without Maki.

And I had to put my trust in someone I didn't know and a Scientist who studied animals in a laboratory. Hardly an encouraging fact.

I was falling into the depths of despair when suddenly something nudged my arm.

"Maki?" Maki stared up at me from his dark mask. He put out his hand and placed it on my arm.

"Maki!" I cried, wanting to pick him up but being unable to do so.

"Shhh!" The man beside me hissed. But it was too late.

The little Lemur dove under my clothing as one of the morphic guards walked up to me.

It muttered something, and then struck me across the back with its whip. The pain was horrid, but I was too worried about Maki, sheltering in my clothing, to really notice it.

The guard hit the ground beside me with the whip and was about to stroll away when Maki jumped up onto my shoulder.

"MAKI!" He challenged. I wanted to grab him but could not move. How could one little Makimur stand up against the Kadabra morphs? Of course, I was forgetting who Maki was…

The guard bellowed and turned around, its eyes glowing behind the jackal mask. Maki stood on his hindlegs, putting his tiny hands on his equally tiny hips.

The Kadabra threw back its head and laughed, before a bright light blazed from the eye-holes in the mask. Maki jumped aside. The psychic blast blazed across the side of my face, leaving a funny tingling sensation on my cheek. But it did not hurt.

And little Maki was running across the ground towards the morph in its cloak, avoiding another blast of light from those glowing eyes. And suddenly he sprang up its leg, and under the cloak.

The Kadabra-morph swatted at Maki with its large, disfigured hands. And then another guard strolled up. In the midst of its shrieking, the first morph managed to point in my direction, and the new guard strolled over to be, grabbing me by my collar and hoisting me from the ground.

Its strength was immense, I could not resist being lifted off the ground and carried across the grass. 

I did see, out of the corner of my eye, Shadeon appear, her black fur flashing in the early morning sun. She sprang at the guard holding me and clamped her jaws about its arm. It struck at her, but she simply turned to shadow. I was dropped, falling to the ground. At the same instance, the other guard fell over too, as Maki executed some effective move on it from inside its clothing.

Wrapping my arms about the morphs legs, I dragged it to the ground, whilst it screamed and thrashed at the air, Shadeon attacking it with her special powers of hallucination. She would be weakening though, as it was almost sunlight. Something jangled as the guard fell down and I found keys tied to its belt. My fingers, trapped in their restraint, fumbled madly as I tried to pull the ring from the belt, fumbling all the while.

Maki scampered free of the unconscious kadabra-morph and over to me, his small fingers easily freeing the keys. It did not take me long to undo the leg brace with the keys and I scrambled free.

"Shadeon, quickly, where is Kameron?" Shadeon leapt up from the shadows, reforming and batted me with her head, she then streaked off so fast that I had to struggle to catch up with her. My legs were weak from being chained together and cramped. We stumbled through the throes of people, leaping their legs and arms. Maki had vanished, taking the keys with him, and I judged by the discontent and the bellowing behind us, he was freeing the prisoners.

I had not gone far when a shape rose from the darkness in front of me, a shape in what appeared to be a ragged cloak.

"Shadeon!" I hissed urgently, then suddenly realised that far from being ready to attack, she was bounding towards the figure excitedly.

It was then I recognised the tattered trench coat, long matted hair…

"Kameron!" I shouted, running towards him, overjoyed.

"Makiki!" Kiki jumped up onto his head, sitting proudly in his hair, clinging to it with her little hands.

"Kat!" We ran into each other and embraced.

Behind us, the dissent continued.

Suddenly a buzzing filled the air, as if of many wings. The sky was filled with dark shapes, their wings blurring.

The Kadabra morphs whirled, they had stopped whipping their prisoners for long enough to face the skies.

And then the Sycthers descended.

And what insured was utter chaos.

Screaming people, men, women, children, ran everywhere, trying to get away from the skies which were filled not only with Scythers but also with hoards of Venonat. The Kadabra morphs aimed psychic attacks at the skies, but many fell, some of them sliced apart by the Scyther, others trampled by a large and irritated looking Taurus.

Kameron and I merely hugged each other close and waited for the insanity to die down. 

A pink shape blurred through the air in front of us and hovered before us.

"Fenrill!" I shouted delightedly, "where's the Doctor? Where's Sam?"

She turned one quivering hand and pointed back at the way we had come from.

Somewhat shaken by her lack of speech, we followed her gaze and saw before us a terrifying spectacle.

Loki, huge wings of fire spread above his head, and tendrils of light dancing across his forehead. Where he had come from, I could only guess, except that he had made his appearance during the fight. But what terrified me more was the fact that in each arm he held Doctor Frances Warwick and Samantha, hugging them close to his body, as though he were their father.

"Prepare for chaos," he said with a wry smile, and flames shot from his eyes, sending a nearby tree exploding into flame.

"It sometimes fails," I replied, although without real enthusiasm. He just kept getting more and more powerful.

"No," he said shaking his head, "it never fails." And he began to flap his wings, sending scraps of clothing and bodies blowing across the area, catching in the trees. "I have the power of fire, and the power of the air, soon I shall be entirely undefeatable."

A small shape rose up in front of her. "_You have hurt my sisters,"_ I heard it say, "_and we will defeat you."_

And Loki threw his head back and laughed. He flung Samantha aside and grabbed the Mew in one hand. The Mew squeaked in surprise, and began to radiate with purple light, but it was too slow, too weak. The power seemed to slide up his arm, radiating against his skin, making him glow purple, before it settled back to its normal colour. Samantha picked herself up from the ground, and threw herself at him. He laughed and pushed her aside, purple light flaring from his arm. She fell backwards.

"Shadeon, do something!" Kameron shouted.

"Maki, Kiki! Fenrill!"

But the small Pokemon were already gone, the Mew a pink blur, blasting a beam of bubbles straight at Loki. I ran closer, hoping to help.

A burst of flame sprung out, sending the two Lemur Pokemon tumbling into the grass, trying desperately to escape the flames that shot through.

And as I got closer, I saw Loki, having cast Doctor Warwick aside (I think he had passed out due to fear, but let's not tell!), turn his attention to Samantha, who also lay unconscious on the ground. Atop her body, crouched her tiny Vulpix, growling furiously. 

Cackling like a maniac, Loki pointed at the tiny fox, and a ray of strange purplish-gold light shot from his finger and struck the little creature. It tumbled backwards and whimpered, yelping. But the yelp was quickly cut off.

The Vulpix was, to all intents and purposes, gone.

Then suddenly something seemed to rise from where it had fallen and a strange dark shape leapt into the air. Loki aimed a shot of fire at it, but at that another blast of violet energy shot from where the two Makimurs had fallen, followed by a blast of dark energy. Something large that glowed purple erupted through the sky.

"Goooo-siiii!"

And Loki was shot backwards, flapping into the air on his wings of fire.

Another blast of wind flattened us all to the ground, and then everything was calm and quiet.

Loki was gone.

Fenrill crouched in the grass, cradling her sister, who lay as if dead. Doctor Frances and Samantha, on the other hand, were just beginning to stir.

"What in hades just happened?" Frances exclaimed, somewhat out of character for him.

"Where's my Foxfire?" There was pain and anguish in Samantha's voice. Then she saw the shape, almost transparent, standing by her foot. "Foxfire?" She asked.

The ghost Vulpix nodded.

"What did he do to you?"

"I think almost what an insane scientist did to Shadeon," I replied. "Killed the body but freed the soul."

Shadeon crawled under Kameron's shirt, sheltering from the bright sunlight. Maki returned to my shoulder and Kiki was attempting to comfort the Mews. The new Mew was almost conscious. Almost, but not quite, she was muttering strange things.

"So what do I do now?" There was helplessness in Samantha's voice, "how can I help her? Can she get her body back?"

"Keep her away from bright lights," Kameron replied, "and love her as you always have. She obviously loves you, but understand, your other Pokemon may fear her, now."

As if in reply, Fidget swooped down from the sky, closely followed by Kabuki, in Scyther form. Crete had already been recalled, obviously, and he would be tired from the battle. Suddenly there was a noise not far away, and across the battle scarred ground came a small procession. Bounding ahead, leaping joyfully to greet us came Azriel, bowling into Kameron's legs, and then mine, and standing on his hindlegs to butt us with his hard head. Following behind in a much more reserved fashion was Chiko, her poor holey leaf bobbing. And behind them came all our other Pokemon, looking somewhat bedraggled, some of them, but fine, never-the-less. And in amongst them I caught sight of a strange shape, long and sinewy, its fur decorated in stripes of brown and beige.

"Ootachi?" I queried, as I welcomed my friends back once more.

It appeared we had made ourselves a new friend, whether we liked it or not.

* * *

****

Aftermath 

We took Samantha back to Siryntown with us, because it seemed like the best thing to do. And, of course, the poor injured Mew came with us too, although she was in a particularly uncomfortable state. We put her on fluids, and Doctor Warwick looked after her, for the time being.

Ootachi came with us too, although he remained reasonably wild, preferring to lurk in the grounds then keep us company. He seemed grateful for us saving his life, and seemed to want to repay us, although the fact that he had released my Pokemon from their balls was gratitude enough for me.

Doctor Warwick resolved to never go on an adventure again, although I am sure that he did not really mean it. His interest in Freyja seemed to have changed too, taking on a new direction, one involving Samantha, although we can only speculate if anything ever becomes of that!

Samantha stayed with us for a while, possibly because of her new Shadow Vulpix, although maybe also because she sensed Doctor Warwick's interest in her. Who knows? I am sure there shall be more to report on that in the future!

Dragosi returned to the welcoming arms of his Charizard girlfriend, and we are all anxious to see what offspring, if any, will come from there!

And as for the rest of us? Well, be patient and out tales will continue soon!


	5. Circus of Disaster

# Circus of Disaster

_Special Guest, Gaijin Nekono, appears courtesy of **Kuro**_

It was a peaceful night, as Kameron and I walked hand in hand along the banks of the stream that ran through Siryntown University. Around our ankles, almost tripping us up, Azriel and Shadeon engaged in chasing games with Samantha's ghostly Vulpix. She seemed to be adapting reasonably well to being a shadow pokemon, probably helped by Shadeon, who doted on her as a mother would. Suddenly Kameron pointed at a shape in the sky.

"Isn't that your Dragosi?" He asked.

I stepped back, towards him, staring upwards and indeed he was right. A purple shape, glowing faintly in the moonlight, was circling through the sky. 

"What do you think he's doing?" Kameron continued.

"Showing off, I would guess," I replied. In the Dragon Pokemon's wake followed a spiral of stars, twinkling for an instant, then disappearing.

"Perhaps its some sort of ritual."

Suddenly my mind clicked into gear. "A courtship ritual, perhaps?" I pondered, "he certainly has become fond of that Charizard."

The dragosi in the air suddenly seemed to divide into three, all looping around each other.

"That's a double team attack!" Kameron exclaimed.

"Double Team," I spluttered, "shouldn't that be triple team?"

The young man shrugged, "I always thought that myself, but even when there's hundreds of them, they still call it double team."

"Strange…"

It was a beautiful sight, and I quickly grew to wish I had brought my notebook. Wouldn't Doctor Warwick be pleased? To see notes on Dragosi courtship rituals?

Suddenly Kameron grabbed my arm. "Come on Kat, let's find the Charizard!"

He dragged me through the small plot of trees that divided the Zoology block from the Psychology block, and there we saw her.

She was a Charizard all right. A large, red dragon Pokemon with great bat-like wings. And she was sitting there, staring at Dragosi with a puzzled look on her face. After a time she scratched herself behind the horns and yawned, a puff of smoke circling upwards. She turned and walked away.

Dragosi alighted on the roof top and watched her go, his wings drooping.

"Go siii," he muttered sadly.

"Sorry Cassanova," Kameron called to him, "looks like she doesn't fancy you!"

I grabbed him by the arm. "Don't say that!" I hissed.

"But she obviously doesn't," he pointed out, "its like Freyja and Doctor Frances!"

"Perhaps not." For I suspected that since the Charizard and Dragosi were entirely different species, she may not have recognised his courtship dance for what it was. It was a way that animals, and Pokemon, restrained breeding to the right species, and why they rarely interbred in the wild. In captivity, with the help of science, it was possible to breed almost any Pokemon with any other one, but that was not natural. "I think we have to teach him to act like a male Charizard."

"How does a male Charizard act?" Kameron asked.

"That's what we shall have to find out."

Behind us, Shadeon rolled over as Foxfire managed to overpower her again. The Shadow Eevee lay on her back whimpering in submission (a huge grin on her face) whilst the tiny Vulpix sat on her, snarling proudly.

Until Azriel, over excited as he often was, careened into the both of them and sent Foxfire flying.

"Come on guys," I called, "time to go to the library!"

"Umbre…" Azriel muttered, pouncing on one of Foxfire's three tails.

"Oh, come on Kat," Kameron complained, "its such a nice night, why do we have to go to the library now? Won't your Dragon matchmaking wait until tomorrow?"

"I suppose so," I admitted, although I was as unwilling to give up on a good idea as anyone.

As we were walking further along the river's edge, Kameron suddenly grabbed my arm again and pointed at something. There was a man standing on the over bridge. As we watched, he dropped something large into the water. Then, calmly walked away.

"Man," I muttered to myself, "I hate it how these College boys always litter."

Kameron made no reply, which made me turn to look at him. A look of concentration was across his face, almost one of pain. Suddenly he released my hand and ran forward, jumping into the river.

Well, it was more of a stream really, and not very deep, not more then maybe a foot or two. But it was very muddy and Kameron quickly slipped down to waist deep. I hurried after him.

"I know I hate litterers!" I shouted, "but isn't this going a bit far?"

I reached the point on the bank about the same instant as he grabbed the sack and dragged it from the water, struggling to the shore.

"If I see him again, I shall kill him," Kameron snarled, as he dragged himself ashore.

Even that was harsh for Kameron, especially when all the guy had done was drop a bag of rubbish, was it?

Something told me it was more serious then that. 

I helped Kameron tear open the sack and felt a similar sense of anger when I saw what was within it.

Three puppies, tiny scraps of fur. Quickly we fished them from the wet bag and I picked up one, whilst Kameron grabbed two, and we tucked them under out jackets and rushed them back to my quarters.

A rather confused bunch of Shadow Pokemon (and Azriel) followed us, Shadeon leaping up the side of the building to disappear through the wall. Foxfire followed suit.

Azriel, as hyperactive as ever, attempted to leap through the wall, but lacking the ability to turn insubstantial, bounced off of it with a yelp, and hastily groomed himself, trying to look as if he had done it on purpose.

We, however, had other things on our mind, as we raced the puppies inside. 

Ozmos, her pups now old enough to be a nuisance, refused to adopt the three new foundlings, complaining that she had enough to look after, what with her six over-enthusiastic children and all. So, once again, Kameron and I became Pokemon parents, for the second time in less then two weeks.

The first night was horrible, and two of the pups died, the last one struggling through bravely. We got very little sleep at all, especially with Fenrill, after we nominated her surrogate mum, complaining that we really should be doing something about her remaining sisters.

Because she thought it was urgent, we had been travelling to save her sisters as quickly as possible, but because she had to teleport us, we had to wait several days between each rescue so as she could recover. The strain was plainly taking its toll. She looked skinnier then I had ever seen her before, her ribs showing through her soft pink fur. Tomorrow we were supposed to be travelling somewhere to save one of her two remaining sisters.

"You know," Kameron remarked, staring around my room, which was filled with Pokemon, "any day now they are going to throw you out of here."

I glanced at my room, which was a two bed dwelling, although one bed was currently covered in a female Vaporeon nursing three pups, whilst another two had a hearty tug of war with the pillow and the sixth one was clambering up the curtains with the aid of Florion – the proud father teaching his pup to climb.

Maki and Kiki were sitting beside the television, dismantling the remote control and Flora was attempting to eat Chiko's head leaf and getting cuffed around in the process.

Fenrill, on the other hand, was sitting beside us, nursing a puppy of some description and whining.

"I imagine I will have to adopt the pups out," I replied. "But at least my place isn't as mad as yours."

"I know," he replied, as Shadeon and Foxfire bounced through the wall and tousled on the bed. "You can have my Marill if you like. A few weeks ago she developed a crush on Ash's Pikachu."

"But she's never met Ash," I replied, startled.

"I know, but she just sits there all day watching re-runs of the old show on television. I think I might have to let her go soon, for her sanity's sake."

I chuckled, "wasn't that always the plan? To let her go?"

"Yes, well…"

I knew as well as he did that we had grown so attached to our Pokemon that it would be hard to let them go, but truth be told, we had too many of them to give them the attention they deserved.

"So, why do you think these pups were dumped?" I picked up the sole survivor and investigated it closely. Its fur was dark black-brown, bar for an orange-tinged mane about its chest and a white skull-like plate between its ears. When I looked closely I realised that it had striped as well, although they were almost invisible against its dark fur.

Kameron snapped out his Pokedex and pushed the buttons. "Okay," he said, after a moment, "I'm getting two readings here, one says it is a Growlithe, the other a Derubiru, or Houndour."

"It's a hybrid," I replied. "I'd guess that the owner was an Arcanine breeder and one of his bitches got mated by a wild Houndoom."

"And once he realised that his pups weren't purebreds, he drowned them," Kameron concluded, taking the pup from me. "Don't worry Lucifer, I'll look after you!"

"Lucifer? You're going to call it Lucifer?"

"Why not, don't you think it looks a little like a devil-dog?" The pup let out a mewing sound and sucked on Kameron's finger.

"Oh yes," I replied, "it's very vicious, very vicious indeed!"

*

Two days later and the pup seemed in the peak of health. Now it was Kameron suffering from lack of sleep, as we were forced to sleep in dormitories on opposite sides of the campus and he had totally taken over parenting duties to the little one. Lucifer seemed to grow fast, and after two days he had put on enough weight to mean we were able to leave him alone for extended periods of time. The parenting duties had given me time to do some research on Charizard mating rituals, but all efforts at reading were somewhat disturbed by a whining Mew.

"_He could have caught my sisters by now already!"_ Fenrill complained loudly, pushing an over-eager pup from her chest. Her fur seemed less glossy then ever, almost dull. I was beginning to worry about her. 

We were disturbed by a rap at the door.

I answered it, letting Freyja in. She too looked terrible, her eyes were red and surrounded by large dark bags, as though she had not slept in too many nights.

"I need your help," she declared.

"Are your psychology lectures getting too hard?" I queried. After some persuasion from Doctor Warwick, Freyja had taken up a couple of courses, partly so she could remain living on campus.

She shook her head. "No, he's haunting me."

"Who?"

She gulped. "Loki."

"Haunting you? He's somewhere on campus?"

Again, she shook her head, "no but he's in my dreams, and every time I close my eyes he's there, laughing at me."

"_His psychic powers are growing,"_ Fenrill informed me, "_he cannot suck the power from all of my sisters at once, the power involved would kill him, or blow his mind. He must take them one at a time."_

"And that's why he's left you?" I asked.

Fenrill nodded, whilst Freyja, who could only hear my half of the conversation, frowned. "_He knows where I am, he knows you are trying to stop him. Therefore, it stands to reason that when he needs me, he will be able to find me."_

"And the remaining Mews?"

__

"Will be as weak as kittens until he is destroyed, or the power drawn from him."

"What is going on? Are you going to help me or not?" Freyja was becoming puzzled.

I reached out and patted her lightly on the back of her hand. "If you wish to oppose Loki, then we shall help you at every step of the way."

"Thank you," she cried, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. Suddenly she lunged forward and squeezed me in a rather surprising hug. "You can't know how terrible it is, to see his face every time you close your eyes, every time you so much as blink."

I nodded. "We shall help you, won't we Fenrill?"

__

"You mean we are finally going to save my sister? Certainly!" She did a little loop-de-loop in the air.

*

"This can't seriously be where the Mew is," Kameron complained, as we stared over the quaint little town. It sort of had an Olde English look to it, with two storey wooden houses.

__

"It seriously is," Fenrill replied. "_She is here, somewhere."_

Freyja squeezed her hands together. "I know where we are," she said quietly, "I, I lived here as a child."

"What??!" We both turned to her at once. She shrugged and stared at her feet as though trying to look small and insignificant.

"I lived here until I was sixteen, then I ran away…" She replied so quietly we had to lean forward to hear her. "My parents sent me to a religious boarding school and, I hated every minute of it."

"You ran away from home because you hated school?" I could actually identify with that. I had left home to avoid being sent to a terrible school.

She nodded mutely, and squeezed her hands together. Kiki bounced onto her shoulder and hugged her ear.

"Makiki," she murmured quietly. This seemed to help calm Freyja down. I realised I knew very little about her, aside from the fact that she had been with the dreaded Team Rocket.

Maki was jumping up and down, trying to pull something off of a lamp-post. Kameron turned to give him a hand.

"Hey, look at this!" He exclaimed, "it's a circus!"

The Makimur chittered excitedly.

"So?" Freyja asked.

"I've always liked circuses," Kameron replied, sheepishly. "Can't we go to it?"

I looked at Fenrill, "I'm afraid we have a job to do," I replied, feeling sad for disappointing my boyfriend.

Much to our amazement, Fenrill beamed. "_You shall attend the circus,"_ she said, nodding enthusiastically.

"Fenrill, are you okay?"

__

"My sisters, like me, love excitement and colour, if there is a circus in town, then that is why she is here."

"Well, the Mew says yes," I explained to Freyja. "What do you say?"

Freyja nodded. "If you think things will be alright."

"Of course they will," Kameron patted her on the back, "things always are!"

"I wouldn't go that far," I muttered.

*

It did not take us long to find the Circus grounds. Never before had I seen such a flamboyant display. There was a big top, bright and colourful, with small and bright birds flying around it, leaving in their wake a shower of colourful, but harmless sparks.

Kameron, predictably, pulled out the pokedex.

"Flitterby," it intoned, "the fantail Pokemon. The male Flitterby is bright and inquisitive and creates colourful sparks to attract females and define its territory."

"Never seen those before," I commented, "must be an exotic breed. Hey, where's Maki?"

We both looked at Kiki, she shrugged innocently and beamed at us.

"Kiki, where did he go?"

"Makiki? Makimur!"

I sighed, either she did not know or she didn't want to tell. "Well, Kiki, here is not the place to go wandering off on your own, okay, someone could step on you."

Kameron tugged on my arm and pointed. A young man was standing beside a large armoured elephant Pokemon. A Donphan. I had learned about them in one of the PokeEcology classes. They lived in great herds and devastated forests in their wake, not because they were particularly malicious, just because they were big and had voracious appetites. In times gone by, they had been used in battle, both as steeds and also to break down barricades. This one was staring at the tip of its trunk, on which sat a very small, very bold, pokemon.

"Maki!" I scolded, "come back here!" 

The boy beside the Donphan stared at me. "Why is your Pokemon roaming free?" He asked, "Do you not know its dangerous around here?" The Donphan snorted and started rooting in the ground with its long tusks.

I blushed as Maki leapt onto my shoulder, not looking sorry in the least. "Sorry," I replied, "I did not realise that there were restrictions. My Pokemon roams free because he hates being confined. Would you like to be trapped in a tiny room or day, everyday, and only brought out to fight?"

I couldn't help it, this person had found one of my pressure points.

He glared at me, "I do not fight with my friends," he snarled, "but they should not be allowed to wander around without guidance."

Kameron put his hand on my arm to calm me down. "Come on," he said, "there's no point in arguing. You're both right, in your own way."

Freyja just stood there, hugging herself and shaking nervously. I think the lack of sleep was getting to her. No longer, did she look beautiful. She looked haunted.

"So, are you this Donphan's trainer?" Kameron asked.

"Nah, I've just got myself working with the circus for a while, thought it would be a good way to see the countryside. The real Trainer's just stepped out to discuss something with the ringmaster, leaving me holding the old girl here." He patted the powerful Pokemon on the side. 

Feeling the anger disippiateing (and thinking that putting Maki in a pokeball would be a nice idea at times), I smiled at the boy minding the Donphan. "Is it good working for the circus?" I asked.

He grinned, "it has its moments, but a lot of the time you're up to your elbows in muck. I'm the general cage cleaner, it seems. I'll tell you what, if Marcus comes back soon, I'll give you two…" he paused for the moment, then noticed Freyja for the first time, "three," he corrected with barely a pause, "a grand tour of the place. How would you like that?"

"What sort of Pokemon have you got?" Kameron asked excitedly.

"Oh," he replied, "a rare maned Persian from the deepest darkest realms of Africa, a Jynx that will make your hair curl…"

"I had a Jynx once," Freyja muttered to herself. I was beginning to wonder if she were going mad.

The young man leaned forward. "What's with her?" He whispered.

"She hasn't slept in days," I replied. "bad dreams."

He nodded. "By the way, in case you wondered, my name is Gaijin, and whom might you be?"

Kameron put out his hand to be shaken. "I'm Kameron, and this is Kiki," he stroked the little Makimur on the forehead.

Gaijin shook his hand, then turned to me.

"I'm Kataryna," I replied, "but most people call me Kat. This is Maki, he's a bit of a scamp."

"MaKI!"

"Well, it's true!"

He bowed to me the looked expectantly at Freyja, who still seemed to be drifting in her own world. I nudged her with my elbow. She blinked furiously a few times.

"I, I'm called Freyja," she replied in a monotone.

Gaijin stared at her for a long moment, then bowed to her also. At that point a rather plump older man hurried over, huffing somewhat.

"Ah, young Gaijin, I trust my beauty has behaved herself?"

"This is Marcus," Gaijin replied, "come on, I'll show you around." He seemed in a hurry to get away. We trailed after him. Noone had noticed Fenrill yet, aware that she was quite a spectacle, she had disguised herself with some sort of psychic shield, one that meant that whilst she was still there and obvious, people just didn't notice her, their eyes sliding over her as though she were non-existent. Freyja was achieving a similar effect without any effort what-so-ever. People either glanced at her quickly then away, or stared at her. She seemed almost like a zombie. I felt sorry for her, despite the fact that she had hurt me so many times, and almost killed Kameron and I on several occasions. It is hard to hate someone in such a pathetic state as she was now.

Gaijin led us first to the Persian pen. It was still on the back of the truck and in it stalked four wild-looking Persian. Two were normal, although there was the faintest trace of spots on their crèam coats. The third was glossy black, like the one that had attacked us back in the Makimur Forest and the fourth… The fourth was the most impressive specimen I had ever seen.

A huge mane flowed around its powerful shoulders, so thick and wild that it touched the ground. It resembled the legendary lions, but even more so. The mane continued down its spine, terminating at the base of its tail.

We were all awestruck.

"This," Gaijin stated, "is Toby, one of our most popular attractions. Wild caught, and capable of tearing your head off with one bite." Toby yawned as if on cue, showing massive canines. Maki hid in my hair, the Persian could have swallowed him without any effort what-so-ever.

The Circus-hand led us further, to a paddock where three Ponyta frisked around in circles excitedly. Beside them a strange little bipedal dog pokemon appeared to be painting on a piece of board using its tail like a paintbrush. And nearby a Mr Mime created invisible walls. As Gaijin leaned over the fence to offer one of the Ponyta a sugar cube, I noticed the sun caught something in his pocket – a gold Pokeball.

"You're a Trainer?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yep," he replied, "in a manner of speaking. But I don't fight."

"Neither do I," I replied, "I think its cruel."

He nodded. "I agree whole-heartedly about that. Too many people think that the entire purpose of Pokemon is to wage war on one another. Its sad."

"And kinda pathetic," I added. "So, what have you got?"

"Three at the moment," he replied, "but one's kinda useless. Meowth, Clefairy and Nidoran." He patted the balls in turn. "I notice you've got quite a full belt of balls yourself."

That wasn't quite true, since I had only brought Chiko, Fenrill, Maki and Flora with me, and one of those was sitting on my shoulder, another hiding in plain sight. "Chikorita and Florion," I replied.

"Florion, what's a Florion?"

I drew out Flora's Pokeball. "Come on out Flora," I called. The little striped pup appeared, and promptly hid behind my leg. "She's only a baby," I replied, "and thus a little shy."

He smiled and released one of his Pokemon. It was a tiny Nidoran, hardly bigger then a kit, although she had huge, bright eyes and adorable buck teeth.

"This is Manami," he replied. "She's only a baby too. I don't know why I've got her, really, but I could hardly leave her there for the dogs to kill."

Very cautiously, Flora stalked around my leg and crawled forward, until she could touch noses with the tiny Nidoran. The moment it moved she jumped back nervously, ears flattening. Very cautiously, Manami eased herself forward.

"Ni?" She said.

"Flori."

"Ni ni."

"Flori-flori!" And suddenly Flora launched herself forward, tackling the Nidoran kit, the two of the disappearing in a ball of fur as they darted around us, playing chase.

"Okay, that's enough, Manami, return." Gaijin recalled his Nidoran, leaving Flora looking at him sadly with big eyes.

I scooped her up, she nuzzled me, whimpering, sad to lose her playmate so quickly.

"Was that totally necessary?" I asked Gaijin. He stared hard at me.

"Yes," he simply replied. "Now, you better go in, the show is about to start."

"Thank you for showing us around," Kameron quickly interjected before we could start arguing again. He linked his arm with mine and dragged me away. I tapped Freyja on the shoulder as we passed her. She was leaning on the fence, staring at the Ponyta.

"I'll never forget you, my darling," she whispered to the world in general. "If only you will forgive me."

I didn't like to ask what she meant, it seemed somehow rude.

*

There was something odd with the Ringmaster, I could feel it. As he stood there in the middle of the ring, enormous hat perched on his head, it seemed to me that he was some sort of puppet. His movements were a bit too jerky, and his speech seemed forced, as though he wanted to say something but had to say something else instead. Kameron and Fenrill, the two psychics, had made no comment though, so I thought it must have been part of the show.

Maki, sitting on my head (to get a better view) was fascinated by the spectacle and several times I barely managed to grab his tail before he streaked off and tried to join in. Kiki was perched on Kameron's head, and the two were engaged in animated conversation with each other.

Fenrill sat in my lap, and ate my popcorn, whilst pretending not to. She was still "invisible" Freyja merely stared into space, as though hypnotised.

And then the circus begun, with Ponyta and Rapidash, beautiful, spangly ladies setting on their backs, trotted in from each side. They met in the middle, and each of the ladies changed position so that they were standing on their steeds. They were so graceful that it seemed almost as though they and the horse Pokemon were one being.

Until, about halfway through the performance, one of the Rapidash, which had behaving perfectly, suddenly reared up on its hindlegs, then bucked forward, sending its rider tumbling onto the ground.

Instantly, Chansey and First-Aiders rushed to her side and carried her off on a stretcher whilst the other riders filed off and the Ringmaster, in the same strained tone of voice, apologised and tried to explain that she should be okay.

I was starting to feel suspicious by now. 

The next act, consisting of human clowns and Mr Mimes went without a hitch, and then the Jynx came on and danced.

I saw Freyja tighten her grasp against her chair's rail, so hard that her knuckles went white.

The Jynx was oddly familiar.

A pond was brought on and a woman dressed as a mermaid swam with two Seel and a beautiful Dewgong. They tossed balls to one another and then engaged in some rather impressive synchronised swimming.

Suddenly something tumbled into the pool. It looked like a Pokeball, but it was not. Kameron immediately sprang up.

"Get out of the pool!" He shouted, "it's a Voltorb!"

The Dewgong, who was not stupid by any account, immediately pushed the mermaid-lady from the pond, whilst the Seals began tossing the Voltorb between them.

Just as the woman was safely out of the pool, the Seel with the Voltorb tossed it high into the air, and the two of them sprang from the water as the Voltorb exploded in a brilliant flash of white light, that would have electrocuted anything in the pool.

The Ringmaster tried to fob it off as being part of the show. The crowd seemed to believe him, except for me.

There was something going on here. Something very, very bad. I began to become nervous about what next horrible thing might happen.

I think some of the performers were becoming edgy too, as the acrobats took centre stage and began swinging about it was with much less enthusiasm then I was sure was usual.

"They've got my Jynx," Freyja hissed through clenched teeth. "How did they get her, how?"

That had my attention. "When did you lose her?"

"When Loki went mad and declared himself boss, he took my Pokeballs off me for 'regular maintenance' of my Pokemon. A check up on their health. It was my first tip that something was wrong with him, because he refused to give them back, unless I were to marry him. Demanded it was his right as the new leader.

I abandoned them and left. But why is she here? Is Loki behind this?"

I was starting to puzzle that myself.

"I shall get your Jynx back," I replied, more boldly then I felt.

She smiled at me, immediately retaining some of her former beauty.

Despite their nervousness, nothing happened during the acrobats performance, and I gave a sigh of relief. The show was almost over. Perhaps nothing worse would happen.

I was, of course wrong.

Marcus brought on his Donphan, and it stood on its hindlegs, bowed, rolled over and carried a spangly lady around the ring, standing on its back. Then it was taken outside and the Persians were brought on and paraded before us whilst the Ringmaster made us aware of how overwhelmingly vicious they were, by telling us lovely tales.

Toby stalked around in circles, his eyes glinting with pent up aggression. The black Persian did a couple of tricks – jumping through a ring of fire, jumping over the trainer (a muscular young man wearing a feline face mask that reminded me eerily of the kadabra-freaks) and snarling at the audience.

And then suddenly there came a shriek from outside.

Suddenly the Donphan hurtled back through the centre of the ring, tearing at the fittings with its tusks and heading straight for the Persian-trainer. The man, understandingly leapt out of the way, but lost control of his cats in the process.

Scared by the noise, and the rampaging elephant, the felines scattered, and the audience, seeing them scatter, followed suit. Suddenly there was a stampede for the door. I quickly recalled Flora.

"Kameron, Fenrill, we have to help!" I shrieked.

"Maki!" Maki sprang from my head and landed on the railing before us, putting his hands on his hips in typical tough guy pose. Kiki landed beside him.

The Donphan ran into a support pole and the entire tent shook. People were screaming and trying to flee. And amongst it all, I suddenly saw the Ringmaster. He was laughing, and had taken his hat off.

There was something in the hat, something small and pinkish, something laughing just as hard as the Ringmaster.

Fenrill's fur rose. "_Sister!"_ She yowled, "_how could you!"_ She sprang into the air.

And then something equally horrifying caught my gaze. Toby and one of the other Persians were stalking around the base of a pole. Halfway up the pole crouched a small child, his arms wrapped tightly around the wood, sobbing in fear. Beside the Persian's stood Gaijin, armed with nothing but a chair, trying to force them out of the way, so he could save the child. Unfortunately, every time one backed up, the other one would lunge forward.

Kameron was one step ahead of me. 

"Shadeon! Devolve those Persians!" Shadeon, somewhat small under the artificial lighting, sprang through the air as though she were flying, and disipiated into shadow.

Darkness surrounded the two Persians and Gaijin. 

"Chiko, save the child," I released my Chikorita, and then turned my attention to the Ringmaster.

The Donphan now had the pole caught on its tusks. Every time it moved the entire big top rocked. The moment it got free the tent was going to fall on our heads. 

Shadeon reformed herself and grinned at us. Two meowths hissed and spat at Gaijin. One, the larger one, kept tripping over its mane. The other one darted off to hide behind the seating.

Chiko grabbed the child with her vine whips and set him gently on the ground.

"Go Shrubslash!" Kameron cried, as the Ringmaster's face changed, and flaming wings seemed to unfurl from his back. "Go Marril!"

Fenrill transformed into a Gyrados, and shot a torrent of water straight at Loki, bowling him over. The Mew sitting in his hat yowled again and dived after him, just in time to be grabbed by Shrubslash's vine whips. Violet light seemed to be flowing from the Mew and into Loki.

He was feeding off it, just as he had fed off the terror, the pain.

And then with a final twist of its head, the tent fell down.

We were suffocating, trapped under the heavy canvas. The pole, tumbling over, caught me across the leg and I was sure it must have done permanent damage. The pain was sudden and painful. Chiko used her razor leaf attack to tear a hole in the fabric, and then her vine whips to drag the pole off me. Beside me, Gaijin opened his gold Pokeball, releasing a rather powerful looking Meowth. It helped shred apart the tent.

Loki had gone, leaving behind a smoking hole in the tent.

"We lost again," I muttered, as my vision blurred and flashed again.

"Makiki," Maki placed his hands on my face, soothing me. "Makikimur!"

Spitting and struggling, Shrubslash dragged something over, a Mew was entangled in his vines.

__

"Why sister, why?" Fenrill asked her.

__

"For the power," the Mew replied, and her fur was denser, her ears smaller then the swamp Mew's. "_Can't you see out world is dying. We can do nothing to save it. All is lost."_

Fenrill slapped her sister in the face with her tail. "_We can and shall," _ she replied, "_else we are all dead. Are you truly that lost, sister?"_

The Mountain Mew hung her head. "_He has stolen my power. Now the world shall die. He abandoned me. I helped him and he abandoned me."_

Freyja bent down before the Mew. "He wants to be a God," she said softly, "and he will let nothing stand in his way. Nothing."

****

Aftermath:

The Mew obviously needed help, and although we thought Freyja might be able to care for her, she refused, and so we handed her over to Gaijin to care for. He had, after all, shown bravery over and beyond what was expected from him, and had the scars to prove it.

Toby and the other Meowth were quickly recaptured and re-evolved a short time later, since Shadeon merely devolved and did not weaken the Pokemon. The circus was however closed down and the Persians were taken into a private zoo, where Toby could father many more maned cubs. In time…

Poor Freyja still suffered from her nightmares and there was nothing we could do about that. She did however, get her Jynx back and Kameron handed over his Shrubslash to look after her, perhaps hoping it could chase the bad dreams away.

Oh, and my leg wasn't broken, although it was crushed. And now I would have to suffer with crutches for our following adventures.


	6. Treasure Island, but Honolulu it ain't!

Kataryna's Pokemon Journeys - Mew Chronicles Circus of Disaster 

_Special Guest, Jimi Newman appears courtesy of **himself**. Some of the arguments in this story actually happened too, and I decided to include them here just for fun. Titus is named after my cat, whom I gave away a year ago and still miss sometimes_.

The pillow bounced into the wall, startling the sleeping Floreevee. Instantly, Flora sprang awake, and shrieking in alarm unleashed a volley of razor leaves. One buried itself in my shoulder, too soft to do any damage, it merely stuck to my nightshirt.

"Flori?" She voiced tentatively, staring at me a little nervously.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm just upset, that's all." Maki jumped into my lap from the lampshade and hugged me with his tiny little arms. "How could he do this to me?"

"_Do what?"_ Fenrill's intrusive voice sounded in my head. "_You mean because you have refused, once again, to give in to temptation of the flesh?"_

My hand reached out for a pillow that was no longer there, being currently lying in the middle of the floor. "Shut up!"

"_I don't see why you humans make such a big deal out of it," _the Mew replied snidely, "_it is, after all, just natural."_

"You don't understand!" I shouted at her, feeling the tears building up. It _was_ true, after all. I had denied Kameron, but that was not why I was upset. He had gone to visit _her_ again.

The "her" in mention was Freyja, and this last week he had been spending almost every night with her. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what they were up to. Or at least not my paranoid imagination. I could not deny it anymore – Kameron had tossed me aside for a madwoman. 

And Freyja was certainly mad, although she seemed a bit better then she had at the circus. Although she barely slept anymore, she had recovered from that near-catatonic state. And there was also no denying that things were pretty rough for her at the moment. But that didn't mean I approved of Kameron spending so much time with her! My imagination continued to take over. I mean, Freyja was beautiful, stunningly so, when healthy and even in her disheveled state she was still a great deal kinder to the eyes then I was.

No wonder Kameron preferred her company to mine.

"_You are going to have to talk to him soon, you know," _Fenrill hassled me, "_I am recovered now and ready to take you towards your next adventure. And there's no way I'm letting you delay me anymore."_

All the teleporting and other psychic skills were draining the poor Mew. She and her sisters were connected with a spiritual bond, and with their growing weakness, she grew weaker too. Perhaps that was why Loki had not tried to take her yet. I knew it would not be long now. She had been awake the longest, and was thus the strongest, but she was weakening. It had taken a full week and more chocolate then I could count (the boy at the grocer store was starting to look at me strange, I think he was beginning to worry about my health. I was beginning to worry about my income – I didn't get that much allowance, after all) to recover to a strength such that she could face Loki once more.

"Why don't we go now?" I suggested.

"_You're going to get Kameron?"_ She asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm going to prove that I don't need Kameron to survive. He doesn't need me anymore, so I no longer need him." I glanced over my Pokemon, who to take? The kits were starting to get quite big by now, "Florion?" I asked. "Want an adventure?"

Florion glanced nervously at his mate. "Flori, florion-on?" He asked, clearly anxious about leaving her behind.

"VaPOR!" She insisted. There was, after all, nothing much here that could harm her.

"Okay, Maki, of course, Florion, Dragosi, I'll probably need your wings! And Chiko, I guess. Flora, you'll have to stay with your mother, okay?"

"Flori eepre?" Flora nuzzled my hand.

"No, your REAL mother, the one that gave birth to you. I won't be too long and you're nearly weaned."

She licked my fingers tenderly. "Floreevee! Flori!" 

"I'll take care, I promise!" I replied, stroking her small head. "And I'm sorry about the pillow, okay?"

"Flor!" She seemed mollified.

I called my Pokemon (excluding Maki) into their balls. This would be the first time in months that I had gone on an adventure without Kameron, and in all honesty, I was scared shiftless. "Okay Fenrill, beam us up!"

"_Not yet," _she replied. "_There is someone outside who wishes to join us."_

I sighed audibly. "It's Kameron, isn't it?"

"_Not unless he has gotten smaller and furrier."_

I opened the window and peered downward, a small furry shape stared back at me, and then began making its way up the wall.

The wall, you must note, was brick, somewhat weatherworn and yes, there were some vines growing on it, ivy in fact, so it was not unremarkable that the Ootachi (I don't like the English word) was making its way up the wall towards me. A moment later it stood on the window ledge. It had been amazing to watch, it moved so fast you could not see its short little legs, it appeared to be flowing up the wall.

"Tachi!" It said enthusiastically (I guess it's a foreign Furret?).

"Okay," I replied, "you can come too, but I don't understand why you want to."

"OotacHI!" It explained. 

"Well, if you like, come on then." And so I called it into a Pokeball. "Okay Fenrill, now let us go, okay?"

*

It was cold, freezing cold. Maki huddled against my hair, burying himself in it. I was standing in shallow snow. Not very good, considering I'd forgotten to put on shoes and was wearing my woolly Ug boot slippers (not the height of fashion, indeed!) which were at least warm, but not overly appropriate for the terrain. It was not exactly what I had expected.

"Fenrill, where are we?"

__

"Somewhere most cold, in the land of the midnight sun," she replied.

I glanced upwards. There was no sun. There was no nothing, nothing but the darkness. "Midnight sun?"

__

"In summer, not winter."

"Oh." I began shivering. Maki jumped through the snow, staring at it cautiously, unused to the chill. His fur was all fluffed up, making him look like a bottle brush. He loped off through the snow, and, leaning heavily on my crutches (you do remember I had a pole fall on my leg at the end of my last adventure, right? Sure ya do!), followed him, Fenrill lying on my head, her tail batting against my back, nervously.

As we ventured into the woodlands, following a trail that only the Mew could see, a crackling and snapping of branches suddenly split the air. I managed to fling myself, and my crutches, aside just in time as a Swinub hurtled through the trees, a sleek silver Ninetails in hot pursuit. Cowering behind a bush, I watched as the pig pokemon whirled, a strange manouevere to watch for I could not see its legs, to face its pursuer.

It struck out with its tusks, taking a blast of fire straight in the face. The rank aroma of burning hair filled the air, but the boar was more resistant then that… Its tusks cut across the cheek of the fox Pokemon, leaving a trail of bright red on white fur. The fox yelped, and danced back, inhaling for another fire strike.

And suddenly a whoop split open the air and a Pidgeot soared down, swooping across the back of the Boar. There was a wild-haired young man sitting astride it. As I watched he sprang from the bird's back, rolled as he struck the ground, and plunged a spear upwards and into the boar's armpit, hitting the heart. It squealed, a blood-curdling sound that made my eardrums throb, and fell to the ground, a mass of long hair and blood that cooled as it made impact with the snow, leaving faint trails of steam in the air. 

Instantly, the young man removed a wickedly long knife from his belt and began butchering the carcass. The Ninetails, unperturbed at him stealing its kill, suddenly scented something in the wind. Something that was not dead Swinub.

It trotted straight towards us. "Maki, get ready!" I whispered.

"Kimur!" Maki nodded, trying to make himself look frightening (and barely succeeding). I tensed myself, preparing for what might come. Certainly, I did not know how dangerous this young man in his cloak of animal pelt was, but I was not about to take risks either. 

"Kikikimurrrrr!" I suddenly realised that Maki had jumped onto the Ninetails's head and was… stroking its plume?

"Maki, what are you doing!"

"Maki mur!" He insisted.

It was then I recognised the Ninetails. "Mercury!" I shouted.

"Nini!" Mercury nuzzled me, her tongue warm against my cold skin. And then I recognised the Pidgeot too. "Goldflash?" Or was it Goldstreak? I could never remember… damned stupid name, but I could hardly complain!

If Mercury were here and Goldflash were here, that meant…

"Rowan!" I cried, and the young man looked up from his kill. Beneath the blood and the dirt, familiar grey eyes turned my way.

"Kat…" He stuttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Err, this is a G-rated fic, Rowan, we can't use language like that…"

"Oh, sorry. I was just shocked, is all. Let me rephrase. What the hades are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," I replied. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere far north, Norway by my guess," Rowan replied. His hair was hidden beneath a hood made from Magumarashi pelt and his shoulders covered by Swinub hide, it made him look like a wildman of some description. 

"Been here a while then?" I asked.

"Months," he replied, "after dad died, I helped mother for a couple of years, but she remarried, and I wasn't needed anymore so I got a job working on a cruise ship. The money's great!"

"You never told me!" I hadn't even heard about his father. Had we really grown that far apart?

"You haven't exactly been easy to reach," he replied, "and your letters have never been forthcoming."

"I'm sorry," I replied. He was right. I had postponed writing, or forgotten to, there was always something more pressing to be done.

"No worries," he replied, "looks like fate has brought us together again, after all. And you have grown into an attractive young lady," he grinned, handsome despite the blood.

I frowned. "Rowan, you're like my brother!"

"I've been without female company for four months," he replied, "give me a break."

"Approach me closer and I'll give you two," I grinned, and suddenly we flung ourselves into a rather icky hug. "How's Electra?" I asked, pulling away finally.

Rowan's face fell. "I don't know," he replied, "I lost her Pokeball when the ship sunk. It's just me, Mercury, Goldstreak, Jimi and Wild. Oh, and Titus."

"Jimi and Wild."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! I wasn't the only one stranded here, Jimi was too. You'll like him, he's lovely!"

"And you bring in the bacon, eh?"

"Indeed, wanna join us for dinner."

"I think I'll skip, you know I haven't eaten Pokemon meat for eight years, Rowan."

"Neither had I," he replied, "remember that vow we made when we were eight? Well, you'd eat them too, if there was nothing else available."

"What about berries?'

Rowan chuckled, glancing around the forest. "I don't believe you're going to school," he scolded, "its winter! Ain't nothing to eat but animals and snow. Or bark. Even the local Stantler have to chew lichen off trees and dig deep for bits of dry, tasteless grass."

"Oh, yeah, I guess my brain is a bit addled. Teleportation-lag."

"That reminds me, how did you get here?" 

I motioned at Fenrill, "come out Fenrill!"

She had been strangely quiet, now she made herself cease to be disinteresting. "Mew!" She said, in greeting.

"Wow, another Mew, I thought those things were rare!"

"The rarest of them all… wait, what do you mean, _another_ Mew?"

"_My sister, he has met my sister!"_

"Soon after we were stranded here, Jimi found one. Washed up and entangled in a fish net. She has odd little gills. He brought her up here and into the warmth of our cave and she's recovered. Slowly."

"_Take me to her!"_

"Insistent, isn't she?"

"You can understand her?"

"Yeh, Wild's almost as bad. Come on, let's go and meet them. I'm sure Jimi will be keep for his lunch. Want to help me carry it? I've cut out the squishy bits, I'll leave them for Gold and Mercury," the Pidgeot was already pecking at the intestines, its beak a blur. Mercury paced over and began eating in a much more refined manner.

Maki returned to my shoulder, pulling a face. He was a vegetarian, through and through. I brought out my Pokeballs. 

"Dragosi can fly it up there."

"Drago-who?" At least that had surprised him. If a Mew fails to surprise, produce an extinct Pokemon. Never fails!

I pushed the button, releasing the Dragonfly Pokemon in a beam of light. He appeared and shuddered, his tail curling up, wings seeming to shrivel.

"Oh blast," I cursed, "I forgot bugs don't like the snow. Return!" And grass Pokemon didn't either. I was beginning to realise how useless I was. At least I had the Ootachi. The completely untrained and probably untrusting of humans, Ootachi. "We better walk," I concluded.

Rowan tied the Swinub's legs to a sturdy branch. "Well, with two of us I can do this in one trip," he replied. "And we shall eat pork tonight!"

I supported one end of the pole on my shoulder. It was rather heavy, even without the internal icky bits. However, I was not about to let Rowan see me strain. He heaved his end easily onto his shoulder, and we began the long slow march towards the cave, wherever that might be. After a while, Mercury came bounding in behind us, her pretty chest fur stained with blood, and Goldstreak (or flash or whatever) soared in behind us, its wings hitting us with a cold breeze every downbeat.

After an eternity, when my back was all but ready to give in, Rowan quickened his pace, almost forcing me to run to keep up.

"We're almost there!" He replied. And through the trees I could see a glow of firelight. Something barrelled through the trees, mewing furiously. No, it was not a Mew, but a small, rather wild looking Meowth. It darted around Rowan's feet, looking hopefully at the carcass. "You might think he likes me, but he's only after the food," Rowan replied. "We first noticed him when we set up camp here, lurking around the fire, drawn by the smell of meat. Poor thing was starving – its hard to survive in winter when you're a little hunter, especially one just past babyhood. So Jimi, softy that he is, began feeding him.

Then, one day, after a real cold night, we came out to find him lying half-frozen in the snow. Jimi was most amused when I picked him up, put him down my shirt and put up with a Meowth Popsicle until the little fellow woke up and started tearing my shirt apart. I still have the scars."

"I didn't know you had that mothering streak, Rowan," I commented, a little wryly.

He shrugged, "I've changed in the last few years, Kat, just like you have. You've filled up rather nicely."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Rowan…"

He shrugged. "Just kidding." But I didn't think he was. We had been like siblings, but it had been several years since we had seen each other, and we were starting to notice each other in a different light.

And then I thought of Kameron, and felt a knot in my belly. I missed him, oh hell, how I missed him… And his Pokemon too. I tried to put him out of my mind, and put a smile on my face as we laid the carcass on the ground (Rowan made no move to stop Titus eating it, probably the little Meowth couldn't make much of an impression on the large corpse), and walked up the steep path to the cave.

There were hides, Stantler I think, hanging over the door, but these had been pushed aside to let the smoke filter out. In the time they had been here, Rowan and Jimi had certainly put some effort into killing the wildlife. I could hardly blame them. In this environment it was kill or starve, as simple as that. Maki pushed straight into the cave, desperate for the heat. Being a grass type he was not fond of the cold, but was too stubborn to give up and hide away.

"Hey, Jimbo!" Rowan called, "look what I brought home, it's a girl!"

The curtain moved aside and a man slightly older then us peered out. He had long blond hair tied back in a pony tail and a substantial amount of facial hair. More-so-then Rowan, who although he had something vaguely resembling a beard, looked more like he'd forgotten to shave that morning.

"For lunch?" He replied, "you haven't resorted to cannibalism now, you blood-thirsty hunter?"

"Nah, I've got a Swinub for lunch, and Kat for dessert."

I hit him with my crutch. "Take a roll in the snow, hormone boy," I replied.

Jimi laughed. "Well, don't stand there freezing your derierre off, come on in. I've got some tea boiling."

"Tea?"

Rowan shrugged, "hot water flavoured with bark off a certain tree. It don't taste too great, but at least it only occasionally brings you out in a rash."

I frowned. "Are you serious? I never knew you to joke so much."

"Sometimes it's the only thing that keeps me sane. That and Jimbo here."

"Jimi," Jimi replied, extending a hand to me (after first wiping it on his trousers. They were denim, I noticed. But surprisingly clean), "And you must be Kataryna, I've heard so much about you. Pleased to meet you."

His lack of surprise at me turning up here startled me. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He nodded at a pile of clothing in the corner. "Wild told me you were coming here, with her sister. And hormone boy here has been talking about you every so often. Along with about a dozen other women."

"I'm not one of his exploits," I replied. "We're like siblings, we are."

"I never said you weren't," he grinned. "Don't listen to Jimbo here, he's a pathological liar."

"I am not."

"See what I mean?"

"Anyway, would you like some tea, Miss Kataryna, and maybe then you can meet Wild."

Fenrill levitated to a few inches before Jimi's nose. "_Forget the tea,"_ she said rather fiercely, "_is my sister well?"_

The blankets moved aside and from them came a small, almost delicate Mew. Her fur, although pink, was tipped with a teal-blue, her ears were thin, translucent almost. She pushed aside the covers and levitated towards her sister. The two touched noses, and would have hugged, were their arms long enough for it.

"I'm bringing out my Pokemon now," I replied, then noticed Titus.

The Meowth was stalking Maki, who was currently giving the cave a thorough going over. It was only a small cave, but quite well equipped. The back seemed to be the sleeping area, judging by the piles of furs and blankets, and along the walls on both sides were hung various implements. These ranged from bowls and pots, most dented, to crudely carved utensils. 

"This could be interesting," I replied, motioning in Titus's direction.

"Do you think I should stop him?" Rowan asked.

"No, let him learn the hard way."

This earned a puzzled look from the young man, who had clearly forgotten what the Lemur Pokemon was capable of.

Jimi pushed a mug into my hands. It had written on the side, "I l ve Ne o k." in chipped print. Remembering Rowan's caution, I sipped it gingerly, then actually drank it down. It was good, sweeter then I had expected, with a touch of lemon. After I placed it down I remembered my earlier promise and opened the Pokeballs.

Dragosi seemed to like the heat, and flapped his insectile wings, sending dust spiralling around the room. Jimi seemed genuinely surprised at the sight of him. Most people did, the creature was extinct, after all.

Chiko glanced at the two males distrustfully and plunked herself in my lap, making it abundantly clear that she was not going to have anything to do with the boys. Ever. If she could help it.

The Ootachi, as yet unblessed with a name, immediately pranced over to the fire, stood on its hindlegs, and carefully removed a piece of meat from the grill over the fire. Given it had been wild only a week ago, this showed amazing courage – or amazing attitude.

And lastly, Florion strode out and shook himself, glancing at me then my two male companions, frowned at me, "flori'd" in a almost nagging manner, and flopped down beside the fire. I could tell immediately that he did not approve of my companions, given that they were *gasp horror* boys, and Kameron was not here to protect me from them.

Meanwhile, Maki had found himself some sort of puzzle. One of those interlocking pieces ones, and was fiddling with it. The Meowth crouched low, wriggling his tail as he prepared to attack.

Jimi looked at me a little worriedly, but seeing my look merely shrugged. We all watched as the drama unfolded before us…

Titus pounced, at the same moment that Maki whirled, unleashing a starblaze that filled the entire cave with a bright irridescent white light (Maki had gotten pretty powerful by now). The Meowth immediately stiffened and dropped, in mid pounce, lying on the floor and twitching slightly. Rowan stood up and picked him up, cradling him gently.

"Don't you ever hurt my baby again," he mock-scolded Maki, quite aware that had the Makimur not defended himself, he would be cat food right this minute. Titus had not been playing, he was no house cat. The small spots in his fur marked him as a wildcat, born and raised. He merely stayed with Rowan for the reason that domestic cats had taken human companionship in the first place – food and warmth.

Maki made a rather impolite sign (I can't say I taught him that one, but he does pick up things easily) in the cat's direction, then turned his attention back to the puzzle.

"You have quite a collection of stuff here," I pointed out.

"It all washed ashore after the boat sunk," Rowan replied. "We scoured the entire shoreline for hours hoping to find Electra's Pokeball, but no luck. We did find a lot of bits and pieces though, enough to make some weapons and this fine cave."

"So what happened anyway?" I asked curiously. "And why are you still here when you could send Goldflash out for help?"

"Goldstreak," Rowan reprimanded me, "that's her name."

"We were holed during a massive storm," Jimi started the story for me, "I was hiding in my cabin, making a few sketches when it hit. There followed a loud screeching sound, like something very large being dragged across the side of the boat, and then silence – the engines just stopped.

Next thing you know they're demanding us all to put on our life vests and march up to the deck," he continued. "It was like a scene from Titanic."

"I had to help sort out the passengers," Rowan explained, "since I work here. I even think it might have been an iceberg what struck us – there's nothing much big out in the water, except Orka and Gyrados. Anyways, we got everyone into lifeboats – something rather different from Titanic I might add…"

"Then we floated out into the sea, which was still pretty wild. We watched the boat sink, which was pretty depressing and sat around in the freezing air, trying to keep the boat afloat until we were rescued. Unfortunately an Orka found us, and overturned the boat."

"There were eight of us on it at the time," Rowan interrupted, "I dunno what happened to five of them, drowned I guess, but Jimi and I and a girl called Gemma, managed to climb onto the boat. She had her Pokemon with her too, and called out her Gyrados to carry us to shore. I brought out Goldstreak to find the shore.

"It wasn't much of a shore though, this is Scandinavia, famous for its fjords, and when we finally found the shoreline we couldn't get up the steep cliff very easily, had to rely on her Gyrados and my Pidgeot to ferry us up. Jimi's useless, he ain't got any pokemon."

Jimi scowled. "I have Wild," he replied, stroking the blue Mew on the head. She nudged him in the chin and purrrred.

"But you found her on the beach!" I replied, "and what about all the debris you found?"

Rowan held up his hand. "Patience my darling, all shall be explained in time."

It was my turn to scowl now.

"Aside from such interruptions," Rowan continued, "I wish to continue my tale now."

"Go for it," Jimi seemed amused. 

"We made our way to shore and huddled here until the storm passed over. This was four months ago, you know, and there was sun then. In fact, the sun lasted pretty much all day every day. I tell you, we didn't get much sleep until we caught on! So once we were dry and more-or-less warm, we explored our surroundings."

"I found the beach," Jimi explained, "we were searching for fresh water, because we needed some badly, and suddenly felt something sharp in my head, like pain."

"You're an empath?" I asked, aghast. Maybe Kameron was not so special after all.

He shrugged, "my mother always seemed to have some psychic talents, premonitions and such, maybe I inherited it. Anyway, the further we got, the stronger the pain got, like a headache, and then we found the stream. Against Rowan's complaints, I followed it and found that instead of leading to a sheer cliff, it led to a small beach. And on that beach I found Wild." He mussed the Mew's head fur.

"Goldstreak and I scouted the coastline looking for anything we could salvage," Rowan explained, "and brought back all the junk here. And most of it is rubbish. But some, like the pots and the mugs, were most useful."

"So," I asked, after it appeared Rowan had finished talking, "where's Gemma?"

"Do not interrupt me," he replied, "you shall disturb my master story telling skills. We made camp up here, about an hours walk from the beach, in this here cave, and lived here for a month or so, and then it began to get dark."

"Realising what was going to happen, Gemma pointed out that we could not survive here through the long dark winter, and bravely set out on her Gyrados to find help. Naturally, I offered to keep her company, but Jimbo here was too scared to be left alone."

"Yeah right. I just didn't trust the little horn-dog with a girl alone," Jimi grinned.

"You wanna share them right?" Rowan mocked, "but that's beside the point. She took off on her Gyrados and never came back. I dunno what happened to her. Maybe she found help but decided we weren't worth saving."

"Maybe she wanted to stay away from you and your overblown hormones?" Jimi quipped, he grinned at me, "I swear. I may be male but I still sleep with one eye open for fear of him."

"We managed to do okay so far, this winter, although we haven't eaten anything but meat for so long we can't stand it anymore. We tried storing some plants, but they taste pretty awful now, and we eat lichen when we can get to it. You can't live on meat alone – its pure protein and fat."

"I have a little something," I explained, indicating the knapsack on my back. I forgot to mention it before, but you should know by now we always take something along with us on our jaunts, its only sensible. So sensible I felt there was no point in drawing attention to it.

Instantly their eyes turned glinting at me, and I'd swear they were drooling. Talk about Pavlovian reaction!

"Err, a can of spaghetti, a block of chocolate and some scroggin (which is a little mix of peanuts, raisins, dried apricots and chocolate, often taking by trampers as a little snack food and pick me up).

"Chocolate! She said chocolate…" They both started moving towards me.

"_MY CHOCOLATE!"_ Fenrill broadcast in our minds so loudly that they fell back stunned. I, being more used to it, merely blinked it off..

"Sorry, its her's," I replied, "but I can offer you some spaghetti. I think I packed a tin opener." More rummaging soon revealed it and a blanket, not to mention my ever present notebook and pencil. As a Pokemonologist, I always carried a notepad with me – you never knew what you might see. "Ah," I brandished the metal device.

Before you could name all 251 Pokemon, plus the ones I had discovered extra, we were sitting around scraping spaghetti and pork from our rather crude wooden bowls with even cruder spoons. The two males had polished off their plates in what surely must be a new world record, and Maki started helping me with mine, strand by strand. He liked to suck them up without using his hands at all. It was heinously messy.

"That was the best meal I have eaten, ever!" Jimi exclaimed, leaning back and patting his stomach.

Wild and Fenrill, both eating from the same bowl, were temporarily distracted and bumped noses as they both sucked up the same strand, Lady and the Tramp style. They fell over giggling. It was nice to see Fenrill happy again, she had finally found a Mew that was neither drained of its powers nor a little bit insane. Poor Chiko and Florion, both vegetarians, had to cope with peanuts and raisins, since Fenrill was fiercely hoarding all the chocolate and Maki had swiped all the apricots earlier, when I had been distracted by carrying the Swinub up to the camp.

"So, Jimbo, what time is it?"

Jimi glanced at his watch and shrugged. "I dunno, my watch stopped like three weeks again, as you well know."

"Are we tired yet?"

"Always. Time for bed then, do you think?"

I was beginning to worry, I had been here a few hours now, and knew that any minute now Loki would turn up and go for Wild. Loki had impeccable timing.

"You know, in the morning we can leave here, if no-one touches Fenrill's chocolate."

"Leave?" Jimi's face was a picture. "Oh, how great it would be to finally be able to properly wash my hair!"

"And be able to hang around with women again!" Rowan exclaimed. "Sorry Kat, but you're like a sister to me."

"We just have to wait until the sun rises."

"Kat!" Rowan snapped, "you do know the sun won't rise for another month or two yet?"

"I am well aware of that fact."

"She wants me," Rowan grinned at Jimi.

"In my nightmares," I replied, equally good naturedly. It seemed weird, Rowan and I had not seen each other for years, but given a few hours together were behaving just like we always had. "Well, we could go home now, if you like, I mean, running water… warm, soft beds…"

Jimi looked hopefully at Rowan, but Rowan, to my surprise, shook his head.

"I know Electra is around here somewhere," he replied, "and I cannot abandon her. I have to find her!"

I had suspected as much. Rowan was very fond of his Jolteon. I glanced at the Mew, "Fen, can you track her psychically?"

Fenrill shook her head. "_I can only lock onto those I know, the only way for me to track her using my powers is if I go via Rowan's head, and that can be rather painful for the medium involved."_

"Well, I trust you folks have searched this area as much as you can?"

"Wild's tried tracking her, but she's too weak at the moment, the strain of being trapped underwater really damaged her, even if she cannot drown."

"We've looked absolutely everywhere," Rowan added. "But she's not to be seen."

"Maybe she sunk with the ship? If she's in her Pokeball, she should be okay until someone finds her and brings her back."

"I thought about that, but the chance of finding the ship under that ocean is pretty remote. Plus I really can't swim _that_ well."

"Don't look at me, I can't swim at all," I added.

"Err, I can doggy paddle," Jimi added helpfully.

"So really, we're pretty damned useless."

"_No we're not," _Fenrill replied, "_I can create a protective bubble and assume the form of a Vaporeon, or Wild,_" she seemed faintly amused at the name, "_can make like a Dewgong or Orka or even a Gyrados. We can search that way."_

"Fenrill, are you actually _helping _us, in a manner that does not directly benefit yourself?" I asked incredulously, grinning at the Mew. Maybe she had got over her arrogance problem.

"_The sooner we get this over and done with the sooner we can get my sister home, but she is no safer there then here. None of us are._"

"Loki can find us anywhere, eh?"

"_Yes, but her will have rather more difficulty finding my seventh sister. She is in the clasps of Team Rocket."_

I shuddered, although I had guessed it all along. MewTwo had told me his "mother", and "sister" had been the Underground Mew, and he had been created by Team Rocket, after all, so it did not take much imagination to infer that they already had her. However, even if Loki was currently their leader, it would still be difficult for him to find their Top Secret laboratories, especially when he looked like a living nightmare.

"Not looking forward to that one," I replied. "Anyway, if you guys are up to it I suggest we search the waters now, because if the man hunting the Mews finds us, we're in big trouble."

"Hang about," Jimi queried, holding up a hand, "the man hunting the Mews? What do you mean? Is Wild in danger?"

"Yes!" I replied, "that's why I'm here." And very quickly I explained about Loki and what he was up to. They listened in breathless silence, asking only a few questions now and then.

"So, we better get onto it now then," Jimi said briskly. "And then get out of here as soon as possible, because I don't think our Pokemon are going to be very good against him."

"Err, no, since he has fire and air powers, grass and water Pokemon pretty much suck."

"Makimur!" Maki complained.

"I'm sorry," I hugged him. "You know you're the greatest Pokemon ever!"

"Maki MUR!" He agreed, rather arrogantly I felt.

"First though," Rowan interrupted, "and I'm sorry to spoil the fun, but we have two minor flaws in your plan. Firstly, we don't have a boat to get to the spot and secondly, we don't know where said spot is."

"You're wrong," Jimi replied, "no, we don't have a boat that is operational, but we do have a boat that could be repaired with a little work and we may not be able to find the spot, but if you ask really nicely the Mew here," he gestured at Fenrill, "will use your mind to link her mind with that of Electra's, thus locating her."

"But it might hurt a bit," I interjected, "and I don't know if you can take it, Rowan, since you are a pitiful wimp."

"At least I'm not a girl," he replied, bringing up an old joke between us. When we were very young, Rowan had often teased me for being a girl, since being such made me weaker and less able to cope. However, in a couple of situations, which I shall not get into here (to save Rowan's reputation) I had been forced to act the brave one, and protect him. The one case I shall definitely not mention ever (or Rowan would kill me, metaphorically speaking) involved a swarm of Beedrill, a big mud puddle, and a small boy with a slingshot. You can use your imagination here, but understand, Rowan has never been overly fond of Beedrill since!

"Do any of us know how to fix a boat?" I asked.

All humans shrugged, but Wild blinked at us. "_I can try,"_ she sent telepathically, sounding somewhat nervous. "_I have seen it done."_

"Very well then, let's go!"

I recalled my Pokemon, as I did not want them out in the snow, not unless they absolutely needed to, but left Maki and the Ootachi roaming free. The weaselish Pokemon seemed at home in the low temperatures, which were probably not that much different from what it experienced in its old home. It dashed around us as we walked through the snow (or limped in my case), darting around out legs and up trees, seemingly without any effort at all. 

After a short while we stood by the boat. If you could refer to it as such, it was in a rather disconcerting state. A rowboat, but it was missing rather a few important boards, not to mention that what was left was cracked and damaged.

"See why we can't just sail out of here?" Jimi asked. "So, what can you do, Wild?"

The little Mew ran her hands across the bottom of the boat, and motioned Fenrill over. The two had a rather odd conversation, which none of us could understand, save for the repeated "mews". Finally she too settled down beside her and motioned for me to come over. I did, looking puzzled.

"What are we doing?" I queried.

"_Healing the boat," _Fenrill sent. 

"You're kidding, right!" I laughed. "That's impossible!"

Rowan and Jimi looked at me as though I were insane. "Kat?"

"_Do not jest, just do it," _Fenrill replied.

"Okay," I was skeptical, but still I placed my hands on the battered boat and willed the familiar power to rise in me. I was getting better at it now – I could heal anything, whether or not it be bonded to me emotionally. But that did not mean I could heal an inanimate object.

Nothing happened, as predicted.

For a while.

And then…

There was a strange sound, almost like the wood was expanding. Small green sprouts started to push their way from the wood, spreading out over the boards. Rowan and Jimi watched, agape.

"Very pretty," Rowan commented after a lengthy pause, "but how does this help it float?"

"_The plants will hold the boards together, and stop up the gaps," _Fenrill sent, "_I know my swamp plants. This particular one is good at growing thick, just as we need it."_

"Don't plants absorb water?"

__

"Well, yes, but slowly, and we should be able to stay afloat for at least a few hours. Now, would you like me to enter your mind, as much as I regret the thought of doing so?" Fenrill stared pointedly at Rowan.

"I guess…" The young man replied nervously.

"_Sit down,"_ she commanded. Rowan kind of folded at the knees and sat. Fenrill lay across his head, her hands on his forehead. She began making a keening sound.

Wild curled up in Jimi's arms, whimpering a little.

After a moment, Rowan's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards, I leapt over and managed to catch him, jarring my injured leg in the process. Pain spasmed through me, but I gritted my teeth and bore it. It was weird watching his expression twist and change, distorting as Fenrill did something inside his head. Then, suddenly, she levitated upwards, and Rowan sagged in my arms, his grey eyes opening blearily.

"Oh, it is truly an angel," he whispered.

"Yeah right," I replied. "Fenrill, what did you find out?"

"_Get that thing afloat and follow me!"_ Fenrill commanded, and instantly we sprung into action. Jimi and I carried the boat down to the water's edge, where, true to their comments, she did float, and did not fill with water. It now looked almost as though we were floating on a little island. Rowan staggered into it, staring across the water a little glassy-eyed.

"What did she do to you?" Jimi asked.

"It hurt," he whispered. "My brain, it hurts."

"_I dug into his deepest memories and brought up any I could about his Jolteon. Then I used those memories to track her. She is in the water, about fifty minutes out, that way."_ She pointed, perching on the prow of the boat like a strange figurehead. Wild sat beside me, in the strange craft and Jimi pushed it off, jumping in beside us. On the shore, Titus sat down and began grooming himself diligently, pretending he was not interested or in the least concerned. Rowan had recalled Mercury and Gold-whatever earlier. The Ootachi stood at the rear of the boat, watching the shore disappear, until he bored of the spectacle and trotted over to sit beside Jimi.

"He seems to like you," I commented.

"Must know I love Ootachi," the young man grinned. He had a nice smile. Indeed, although I had not liked to mention it earlier, he was indeed a most nice-looking man. Although he was at least 3, maybe more, years older then me. He reached out and stroked the Ootachi's head.

This was something even I had not tried, but the ferret Pokemon seemed to approve of him, leaning into the scratch and turning his head to give better access to the itchy spots. We then, quickly, realised the first and most pressing problem.

We had not brought any oars.

Upon realising this fact, Fenrill sighed deeply, and glanced at her sister. Wild curled up closer to Jimi, rubbing her head against his chin, meowth-fashion. The Swamp Mew shook her head dismally, and sprang from the boat, transforming into a Fearaligtr with a massive "splash". I loped one of the vines free of the boat and flung it into the air, where the large reptilian Pokemon grabbed it in her mouth. She dove beneath the water, dragging the boat behind her with rather a good turn of speed. Rowan clung to the side, and then vigorously threw up his spaghetti overboard. 

"My head is splitting," he muttered, "I don't feel so good." He looked horribly pale.

"Rowan," I asked, "are you going to be okay to go down and find the Pokeball?"

"Of course I am!" He replied, trying to sound bold, despite the fact that he was plainly feeling rather sick.

"If you're not feeling well, I can do it." Jimi volunteered, scratching the Ootachi on the chin. The Ootachi leaned into his hand, and promptly fell over.

"No!" Rowan's voice had gained strength now. "She's my Pokemon, and I'll save her myself!"

Jimi glanced at me and I merely shrugged. Once Rowan had his mind set on anything I wasn't about to go and change it. I mean, Rowan and I had grown up together, and we had quite a bit in common. Our stubbornness for one. There was no way I'd let someone else rescue one of my Pokemon just cos I was feeling a little queasy.

"_Here's the spot," _Fenrill informed me. "_Now comes the fun bit. Wild?"_ She glanced at her sibling, who, rather reluctantly, left Jimi's side. They conversed together for a while, politely excluding us from the conversation, and then with an audible "pop" a pink bubble formed around Rowan. It began drifting upwards, into the air. Fenrill nodded at Wild, and then transformed into a Farfetch'd, flapping into the air and beating her wings to force the bubble towards the water. Assuming the form of a Dewgong, Wild dived at the bubble, pushing it and Rowan under the water. Then the Farfetch'd transformed into a Politoad, and dove in after them.

"Well, good luck to them, I guess," I said, a little shyly, leaning back in the overgrown boat and stroking Maki's bullet-shaped head. I could tell the little Lemur was keen to go into the water, but he was also rather frightened of water. Like me, Makimur could not swim.

"Yeah," Jimi muttered. He sounded rather nervous too. "Nice 'tachi," he added, "how long ago did you catch him?"

"A week or two ago," I replied, "he kinda just decided he liked me."

"MakiMUR!"

"Okay, after I freed him from a trap and all." 

"So," Jimi frowned, "you're not a Trainer? I mean, Rowan's told me a bit about you, but it kinda gets a bit hazy – he talks about a lot of girls."

"That's Rowan for you," I grinned. "Well, I am a trainer, but you can forget all of this wanting to be a Pokemon Master rubbish. I'm more what you might call a Pokefriend." A gust of wind blew over then and I shuddered, drawing closer to Jimi instinctively. It was then I noticed how dark it was, how there was no light but the moonlight shining off the sea. At least there was moonlight. For some periods of time here it was so dark that one could not see their hand in front of their face. Maki's forehead glowed very dimly – he had not been able to recharge in the last few hours, and he was shivering too. The poor Lemur-type was used to warmth, and this frigid arctic air did not agree with him.

"You don't happen to have a fire type at all?" I asked, hopefully.

Jimi shook his head. "I've only got my friend Wild," he replied. The Ootachi wrapped itself around his neck and started gnawing on his jacket. "Hey! Cut that out!"

"It means he likes you," I replied, shuddering. "So, you're not a Trainer then, I take it?"

"Nah, always wanted to be, but I guess real life caught up on me. I won this trip, had a lucky break and thought it would be wonderful, and what do you know? I end up stranded in the middle of nowhere with a psychotic love maniac and a nervous Mew. Poor Wild has been injured, else she'd be able to teleport us out of here in no time." He glanced at me, "Pokefriend, eh? That must be interesting."

"It is indeed. I've got quite a few Pokemon, have had more, but some of them I set free or gave away. Like my friend Razor. I got him from a Horsea and when he evolved into a Kingdra, I decided he was better off in the ocean."

"You let a Kingdra go? Man, those things are rare and pretty strong, you must be insane!"

I think that truly invoked my ire. "What, you mean it was better to keep him captive in a tiny ball, bringing him out only when I needed to fight off the powers of evil? If you think allowing one freedom is insane, then you are really a slave-master!"

Jimi held up his hands. "Steady girl," he said, "I was just making a point. I mean, if you're not a Trainer, yet you managed to get a Horsea to evolve into a Kingdra, you must be a pretty good fighter."

"We are indeed," I added, a little pacified. "But I don't fight for the sheer heck of it. Well, not much anyway," I added wryly, remembering the rather tragic fight that had resulted in Shadeon devolving the opponent's Flareon. "I only fight when its that or suffer greatly."

"If you only fight then, your Pokemon must be pretty weak." He pointed out, then gulped. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you or anything…"

"Well, Jimi-boy, I will have you know that I have saved the world from disaster at least once – maybe more. And I am currently on a mission to save it a second time. My Pokemon may not fight much, but they are in no way weaklings. They are strong in spirit, and heart, and loyalty, unlike those kept captive like slaves. And, I suppose using them against Loki and Freyja a great many times has increased their skills, no end. Nothing like a battle with Team Rocket to get the fires raging!"

"Okay, I understand that a Kingdra might not be too useful on the land, and might not get much exercise. What other Pokemon have you released or given away?"

I counted them slowly. "First there was Spiko, my Nidorino, he ran off with a lady friend in order to help save a colony of Nidoran. And I don't see how you can claim I did a bad thing there without coming across as horribly selfish."

Jimi nodded, waiting for the next one.

"And then there was Snuggles. He was a Buru, I think you guys call them a Snubbull. Anyway, I gave him to an orphanage, to help a disturbed child. And you can't blame me there, he was much better at being a friend then a fighter anyway."

Once again, Jimi had to agree with me.

"My friend Kameron," I blushed a little at the mention of his name, feeling silly for doing so, "he had his Flareon evolve into this powerful Pokemon of Light, so that it could help rid the world of Diaboleon." I pondered for a moment, "make that saved the world twice, at least," I added.

"I guess that's a worthy cause," he chuckled, and I think he suspected I was exaggerating, but was too polite to mention.

"I had a baby Articuno for a while, but it evolved so I had to let it go."

"Now I know you're jerking my chain!" He exclaimed, "I mean, a baby Articuno? Don't be ridiculous, those don't exist!"

I shrugged, "don't believe me then. It still happened. Actually, that happened before the Solareon, but don't worry." I pondered, thinking back to all my Pokemon friends, "and of course Nessie. She was a sweetie. My Lapras friend."

"You let a Lapras go? Oh man, no wonder you're not a Trainer! I've heard about them, read about them – they're amazing!"

"I never pretended to be a Trainer. I said I was a Pokefriend! She found herself a mate and I couldn't deny her that, could I? Would you refuse to let one of your friends spend time with a member of the opposite gender just because it was better for you?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Jimi relented, although I think it was partly because he was starting to see that pushing me further might result in him having to learn to swim. Fast.

"Anyway, how do you think Rowan's doing?" I asked, wanting to change the subject…

*

(Look! This is from Rowan's point of view, because, well, otherwise you have to listen to Jimi and I bicker, and once we get started on why wild Pokemon are stronger then captive Pokemon – or vice versa, you REALLY would rather be where the action is.)

My head was throbbing from the Mew's brain scanning technique, but there was no way I was going to give up and let Jimi or Kat save my Electra. I mean, Jimi's a nice guy, and Kat's a sweet girl, and pretty sexy too, but Electra is my friend! And if anyone was going to save her, it was me. The bubble was weird, but I could breathe okay, and that was the important bit. Pushing the bubble along was a beautiful white Dewgong and an emerald green frog-type, the likes of which I hadn't actually seen before, although I had heard of them. A Politoad. I expected it to be dark beneath the water, but after a little while I realised I could see, and a little bit later I realised why… Wild had transformed into a Lanturn, the light on her forehead glowing as brightly as a lamp. It was the brightest light I had seen, in these dark days.

After we had gone down a distance I felt my ears pop, and winced as a stabbing pain shot through my head. That had hurt! Not to mention that it was compounded by the pain from the brain scan earlier. And then I began to see signs of life. Not Magikarp, which were common closer to shore or in inland streams, but the glowing lights of Chonchou and the slowly moving, almost flying, shape of a Maintain, a Remoraid clinging to its wing, hitching a free ride. It was like a mystical, magical underwater world. And then we went deeper. Beneath me I saw the shape of the sunken luxury liner. It lay on the ocean bed, a sorrowful, dead shape.

"_Well, we're here," _Fenrill sent to me, and I winced at her telepathic voice. "_Looks rather a mess, doesn't it? You'll have to take it yourself from here."_

And suddenly the bubble vanished, and for a moment I startled and gasped, then realised that I could still breathe. And I could still see pink. Resting around my head and shoulders was a smaller, equally protective, bubble and the water, which should be frigid, seemed to be warm. Well, at least now I could swim… I stroked my way towards the liner, whilst Wild, still a Lanturn, swam beside me, her light illuminating my path, for otherwise the world would be complete darkness. It took me a while to find an entrance.

"_I cannot stay in salt water much longer," _Fenrill sent to me, "_I must return to the surface. But don't worry – Wild will call me when you have found your Pokemon and wish to return to the surface. Until then, remember that the bubble will not last for more then twenty minutes. It is a thing of the fresh water, not the sea, and cannot withstand the salt for that long. Wild lacks the power to create such a thing. She is still weak, from her previous experience. But you can trust her, for she will call to me, won't you sister?"_

"_I shall,"_ Wild's voice was thinner, frailer, then her sister's. She circled around me. "_Follow child."_

Feeling all the more anxious, I followed, glancing at my watch, only to find that I had forgotten it was not waterproof and didn't work anyway. It probably would've helped if I'd removed my shoes and socks too. Swimming was not easy, even when one could breathe, if one was wearing too much clothing. Still, needs must… I began to stroke towards the prowl of the ship, where I knew the nearest doors to be.

Inside, the ship was somewhat eerie. It was the darkness, the fact that everything was drowned and seemed ancient somehow. It had been several months since we had been stranded – enough time for Corsola to set up home on every flat surface. The Coral Pokemon watched me with unblinking eyes as I swam between them, down the flooded corridors. It was harder to find my cabin then I had suspected. Especially since I had been on the lowest floor, in the worker's cabins. This appeared to be the luxury level, or so the carpeted hallways and golden numbers adorning the doors would suggest. I could not resist peeking in a couple of rooms. They were somewhat less fashionable now, infested with Corsola and the occasional Chonchou. Maybe I would have considered capturing one, but neither a Ninetails nor a Pidgeot would be particularly effective down here. Anyways, what use were fish Pokemon? They couldn't fight in most terrain.

There were a couple of rings sitting on the dresser top, so I shoved them into my pocket. You never know when that sort of thing might come in useful. Hrm, perhaps I could ask Kat to marry me, particularly if she truly had ditched that Team Rocket kid. The thought of him made my skin crawl. I mean, after all he had done to hurt her, how could she still claim to love him?

Which led me to the next point. Where was he? I had got the impression from the few messages she had sent my way, that the two of them were inseparable. Yet here she was, in the wilderness, all alone. Was he looking for her? Or perhaps, and I almost dared not hope. Perhaps they had broken up? Perhaps she had seen that Team Rocket scum will always be Team Rocket scum…

She was a pretty young lady, even if we had been raised together, I mean, that didn't mean I couldn't admire her, right? Perhaps feature her in my dreams every so often? 

My reverie was disturbed, probably a good thing, when suddenly something grabbed me about the middle, and dragged me towards the ensuite. (These luxury cabins had ensuites, that's how fancy they were!). I struggled, but was unable to free myself, so I screamed at Wild to help me, and she tried, she began to glow and suddenly a spark zapped out, hitting the Octillary that had me wrapped in its tentacles. I hammered at it with one hand, since I could feel nasty little barbs tearing through my drenched clothing. Unfortunately, for me, when the lightning bolt hit it, it kinda conducted the electricity into me as well, since it was holding me. Pain exploded through my body…

And for a moment everything went black. I don't know how long I was unconscious for, but when I regained consciousness, Wild hovered over me, Mew form again. She gently touched my face and clothing.

"_Did I hurt you?" _She whispered, in my mind.

"No, that's okay…" I clambered to my feet, floating upwards. The bubble felt weaker. I guessed I probably had maybe five minutes left. I definitely had to make haste. Electra would be in my cabin, that was where I had to look. "Can you transform into a form that will help me move fast?" I asked.

Wild experimented with a few forms, eventually settling for a Mantain. I clambered onto her back, taking firm hold of her shoulders, or whatever fish had for shoulders, and directed her in my head. I knew she could read my thoughts.

I think it still took a good three minutes to reach my quarters, and there, wedged beneath the bed, was Electra's Pokeball. I could've kissed it, but I didn't – I didn't want to look silly in front of the Mew.

And then I began to swim out again. By now the bubble felt very thin indeed and my socks were so waterlogged I could barely move my feet.

*

(Back to me again. And if you're wondering about the more personal details of above, Wild told me. Like all Mew, she can read minds. For better or worse…)

"Seriously, a Pokemon that views any other Pokemon as competition would not be accepted into a wild society."

"Of course it would! Pokemon aren't stupid, they know a stronger specimen when they see it!"

"And a tamed Pokemon doesn't know how to hunt. They're used to being healed from any injuries only moments after sustaining them, and they don't try to kill their opponent. They've been trained not to."

"But they'd learn easily enough.."

As you can see, Jimi and I were still arguing. The Ootachi sat on his lap watching the argument fly back and forth as though it were a physical thing. He kept grinning.

"Wild Pokemon are stronger – they have to cope with predation, and fighting for mates and sudden changes in temperature, not to mention having to hunt for food, whereas all tame Pokemon have to cope with is being fed twice a day, brought out occasionally for controlled battles in a situation where they know they aren't going to be killed, and being healed immediately from their injuries. Wild Pokemon have to survive their injuries."

"Yeah, therefore they are less healthy then an escaped Trained Pokemon."

There was no convincing some people. It was a pity he didn't have any Pokemon – it would've been an interesting competition, and I was almost ready to fight him too. Just to make my point, understand.

Domestic pets better able to survive then wild Pokemon, my foot!

*

(And back to the action)

I was just about to halfway out of the liner when I realised that my bubble, so to speak, was about to burst. In a last desperate move, I inhaled deeply, causing the bubble to vanish with a loud "pop" and tried to hold my breath. The water was so cold it burned, searing through my skin with such intricate pain I felt as though I had fallen in a vat of broken glass.

__

Call Fenrill! I thought furiously, hoping that either Wild or Fenrill would pick up on that one.

Wild transformed into a Dolfin, a mammalian Pokemon renowned for moving fast. She swam under me, and I grabbed her dorsal fin as she exploded upwards. There was no time to worry about the depth, or my eardrums, no time to worry about anything but getting to the surface.

Already I could feel that I was losing the oxygen in my lungs, and it took every effort not to inhale the water, for if I did, I would surely drown, whether Wild carried me to the surface or not.

*

(and me again…)

"Hey, what's that!" Jimi disturbed our argument just as it was getting fun. He pointed mutely at something in the water. The moonlight glinted off a dorsal fin…

I fossicked in my pocket for the Pokedex, only to realise that Kameron, of course, owned the cursed thing. There was a definite negative intent in the way the fin cut swiftly through the water towards us.

It wasn't an Orka was it? Please oh god, don't let it be an Orka!

It wasn't. It was worse.

*

(tense part to cut on, eh?)

Before I could properly burst my eardrums, Fenrill came rocketing down to meet us. She was a Politoad again. The bubble formed around me and suddenly I was not only able to breathe, but also blissfully surrounded by air, not water. How she did it I have no idea, nor did I particularly care.

"_We must make haste, a school of Squalrush have sensed us, and even now are making their way towards the boat."_

"What's a Squalrush?"

I didn't have to wait long for an answer, for suddenly the Shark Pokemon sliced through the water like a guided missile, twisting its body so that its open mouth closed on poor Wild. Since she was a Dolfin, it obviously hadn't recognised her. Since even dumb fish Pokemon should recognise the Guardian of the Oceans (and I'm not talking Lugia here, folks).

She transformed instantly, assuming her normal Mew form, and tapped the fish on the snout with her tail. Its eyes glazed over and it let her go, floating listlessly in the water as though thoroughly stunned. After a moment it began to sink. Blood trickled weakly from the Mew's damaged body. Mews were immortal, but could still take damage, especially when the damage was incurred by their own subjects. Fenrill started pushing my bubble towards the surface.

The blood in the water began drawing further shark Pokemon towards us…

As we broke the surface, I saw with horror that Kat and Jimi were clinging to the boat, the plants which had held it together had begun to disintegrate, and the vessel was slowly beginning to sink. Around them the water teemed with the fins of Squalrush and their slashing tails. 

I was quite proud to notice, that although she was obviously terrified, Kat did not scream. She was a brave girl, and, in her fear, appeared all the more vulnerable and appealing. For a moment there I longed to hold her, to calm her. 

Then my bubble burst. Literally.

*

(Now, after Rowan's rather disgusting POV, I'm sure you'll be glad to here things from my side of the story again.)

When the boat had started breaking apart, Jimi and I had decided to desist our argument. I was also beginning to wish I had hung onto Razor, as the young man had advised. Or Nessie… But it was too late for regrets now. The Ootachi had climbed up onto his head, and was snarling at the Squalrush as though that would somehow frighten them away. They did not seem particularly easily convinced. One came near and I struck it with my crutch (I'd hung onto these, of course). Semi-stunned, it grabbed a chunk of boat instead of me, which was, I guess, lucky in some ways, although the moment the boat went would be the moment that we went.

Suddenly a bubble holding Rowan erupted from the water, the exploded, sending him tumbling into the ocean with a splash. Chill water sprayed us.

Well, desperate measures…

"Chiko, Dragosi!" I called out my Pokemon, hoping they could survive the cold air and even colder water. "Chiko, pull Rowan from the water!" Chiko wrapped her vines obediently about the young man, sensing that now was not the time to disobey.

"Wild! Can you send them away!" Jimi shrieked, as his Mew friend erupted from the water and into his arms. Her chest, I noted was stained with blood.

She threw back her head, unleashing a mighty "mmmmmmeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww!"

Instantly, the turmoil in the water ceased, and the Squalrush all vanished, sensing that if they lingered their Guardian might unleash her wrath against them.

I guess…

It was at that precise moment that the vines holding the boat together finally gave in, and the boards, warped and twisted, gave in, sending all of us into the chilling water.

As Rowan had already noted, the water was so cold it was like a solid thing. Something with knives attached. I found the air catching in my lungs, my entire body screaming with pain. And then Dragosi, hovering in the air above us, scooped me out and somehow I managed to crawl onto his back.

Wild, on the other hand, managed to catch Jimi before he even fell in the water by assuming the form of a Lapras. He clung desperately to her neck, whilst the Ootachi shook itself furiously.

With amazing presence of mind, I managed to draw out the Pokeball I never used, Maki's ball, and somehow recalled him, beaming him into the prison he hated so much. It probably helped that he had been crouching on a piece of timber, that had been tipping precariously.

"Fenrill! Grab Rowan and Chiko!" I screeched, as the little grass type strained to drag the young man onto the only piece of boat that remained above the water. The Mew took on the form of Blastoise – the largest Pokemon she could mimic, and dived under them, surfacing with Chiko braced against her cannon pumps and Rowan sprawled across her back. He was not moving, the only thing keeping him aboard was the Chikorita's vine whip.

"To shore!" I ordered Dragosi, and already his wings were starting to ice over a bit. In near desperation, we all set out towards the shore, and the warmth of Mercury.

*

"He's so cold," I whispered, placing my hand on Rowan's chest, trying to feel a heartbeat. "How long was he in the water for?"

__

"Too long," Wild replied, "_I think his heart is frozen. If it makes you feel better, his last thought was of you."_

"No!" I shouted, "it doesn't! It doesn't make me feel any better at all! He's the closest I ever had to a brother and I can't let him die."

Fenrill hovered close to his face. "_I'm afraid you're too late."_

I threw a cup at her, and it actually hit. I don't think the Mew had expected it. She bounced against the wall, catching herself in time and glared at me.

"_Sorry for just stating the truth," _she snarled.

Beside me Jimi anxiously covered Rowan in blankets and put a pillow under his head. The Ootachi rubbed against his face, as though trying to give some of his warmth to the boy on death's door. Mercury watched anxious, annoyed at us for refusing her close access to her Trainer. We had stripped off all of Rowan's soaking clothes, and I had averted my eyes whilst Jimi had covered certain delicate parts of his anatomy with a blanket, and I, wearing only my underclothing (which had somehow escaped getting soaked – I guess I had not quite been in the water long enough) lay beside him. Because, as Jimi had pointed out, when one suffered from intense cold, it was necessary not to give them sudden heat. Body heat worked best.

And somehow I doubted he was going to be first to volunteer to crawl beneath a sheet with a naked man. Or nearly naked, anyhow.

"_His heart has stopped," _Fenrill, obviously thinking herself a medical doctor, declared. "_If there is someway to start it again, I would suggest you try that now."_

I felt the tears spring to my eyes. They had been collecting in my eyes ever since we had got Rowan ashore and realised he was not going to wake up. Now they finally spilled over.

Jimi put his hand on my shoulder. "Can't you do anything?" He asked the Mews.

"_We cannot restore life, merely heal the damage already done,"_ Fenrill replied. "_And Kataryna's talents can heal, but not start the heart."_

Suddenly Jimi's eyes brightened. "Doesn't Rowan have a Jolteon? Isn't that what we saved?"

I felt hope welling in my heart for the first time. If we could start his heart again, surely I could heal him from there. "It's in his jacket pocket!" I could not believe we had forgotten Electra, after we had gone all that way to find her! Risked so much!

Rather swiftly, Jimi unearthed the Pokeball, "go Electra!" He shouted, and the lightning Eon sprang out, instantly running to Rowan's side. I drew back the sheet, exposing Rowan's chest. He was somewhat more muscular then Kameron, but I pretended not to notice. "Electra, use a thundershock to start his heart again!"

Electra narrowed her eyes at me, "jol?"

"He's dead, but if you can start his heart again, we can save him!"

"Jol jol!" That was enough for the loyal Jolteon. I moved quickly out of the way as she unleashed an electric attack that seemed to disappear into Rowan's chest. Leaving a small smoking hole. Anxiously, I put my hands on his throat, searching for a pulse. Somewhat disgruntled at having been pushed aside, Electra began licking his face.

After a desperate race of despair, I felt something, a soft fluttering, like a dying bird and almost as erratic. His heart had begun again. Now, it was my turn… Placing one hand over his heart, drawing the blanket over us both, I tipped his head back, parting his lips. And, whilst I called on the healing powers I knew I had, I also breathed oxygen into his lungs.

Suddenly, with a great gasp, he spasmed, rolling over on his side, and spat out mouthfuls of cold, salty water.

"Mama, I'm so cold…" He whispered. "So cold." And his voice was slurred, but I knew that he would be alright.

Now it was my turn to pass out, exhausted from the healing energies I had spent.

*

When I awoke, I was lying not in a dark, miserable cave, but in my own bed, back at the university. For a moment I thought everything had been a dream, a terrible, complicated dream, but when I sat up (still feeling giddy) I realised that Jimi was sitting on my spare bed.

"Wha?" I asked, coherantly, whilst Maki threw himself into my arms, nuzzling my face excitedly.

"Fenrill found your chocolate supply," Jimi explained, "and teleported us all here. Nice place, by the way, do you always live with so many Pokemon?"

Flora was industriously suckling one of his fingers whilst one of her rowdy brothers was playing with his pony tail.

"Yeh," I slurred, feeling as if my tongue were a mile thick. Jimi, as though picking up on my discomfit, handed me a glass of water, which I sipped gratefully. "How's Rowan?" I asked, finding my throat worked at last.

"In hospital," he replied, "but he's going to be okay. Looks like we got the oxygen to his brain just in time. Luckily it was cold, he was literally cryogenically frozen. Otherwise he'd still be alive, but he wouldn't be him anymore."

"Can I see him?" 

"In a minute," Jimi scolded, "firstly I think there's someone here who wants to see you."

Reality struck me again. It had to be Kameron. "Let him in."

I was wrong, and sorely disappointed, it was Doctor Warwick.

"Been getting up to mischief, have you?" He scolded me, mockingly, "entertaining boys in your room again, eh?" He grinned. "Don't go doing that again, I warn you! Kameron, Freyja and I were worried stiff when you disappeared without us, and without telling us where you were going. And then we find you've been taking a dip in the Arctic sea."

"Did you come here to tell me off?" I said, somewhat grumpily, "because if that is the case, then I think I need my rest."

"Sorry," the Doctor replied, wrapping his arms around me. "But you terrified us! I mean, you're like a daughter to me. Only, I'm not really old enough to have a daughter." He added. "Anyway, it was all I could do to keep Kameron from bursting the door down. I've had to, err, forcibly restrain him. But I have to know, Kat, why did you run off without us?"

I glanced at Jimi, and he immediately nodded and left the room. There were some things I did not wish to say in front of semi-strangers.

"I, I don't think he loves me anymore," I sobbed, feeling ashamed for letting myself go in front of Frances. The Doctor sat beside me, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Is this about Freyja?" He asked. "Because I assure you, Kameron's friendship with her is purely platonic. He loves you. I mean, he hasn't slept since you vanished, and if it weren't for the fact that you could have been anywhere in the world, he would have chased after you. In fact, I think he was planning to, although lord knows how he was going to work out where you were."

I gulped. "I don't know if I can face him." And in truth, I felt very foolish. And rather ashamed in myself. I mean, had I not just proven that I did not trust him?

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter," Doctor Warwick replied. "For if I were to try and stop him he would probably beat me to a pulp and visit you anyway. So I really am not willing to try."

He stood up, and walked over to the door. Kameron must have been standing outside the whole time, although I doubted he could hear what we had said. He darted in immediately.

I didn't know what to say, and as soon as I saw the look of worry on his face, the dampness on his tanned cheeks and the love in his eyes, I realised there was nothing to be said.

I opened my arms, and let him enfold me.


	7. The closing Chronicles (part A)

//Tragedy struck the tiny community of Magenta Valley today, when wildfire erupted through the township, vaporising all in its path __

//Tragedy struck the tiny community of Magenta Valley today, when wildfire erupted through the township, vaporising all in its path. It appears the volcano Mount Aolale, dormant for the last four hundred years, erupted at midnight, covering the town in boiling fire. The population of Magenta Valley, stood at five hundred, and so far, no survivors have been found. And in other news…\\

Kameron stared at me, muting the television. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

I blinked, a little distractedly, "that it really was a bad idea to eat that second chocolate sundae?" 

"No, dimwit!" He sounded good-natured in his insult. "That this sounds rather unusual, like, perhaps, something that might have been done by a certain fiend of ours?"

"Loki…" I hissed.

Kameron nodded, brushing his curly hair from his eyes. His long, dark hair had got almost unmanageable of late, but he seemed most reluctant to have it cut. "It would explain why he never paid you, Jimi and Rowan a little visit…" It was evident from the tone of Kameron's voice that Rowan was not his favourite person. And with good reason, my childhood friend had shown him nothing but disdain since the two of them had met.

"I had wondered about that," I moved forward, resting my head on my hands. "And I was also trying to work out why Loki never seemed to find the Mew before us – it was always at just the right moment to beat us up."

"Impeccable timing?" Kameron replied, leaning back and crouching in front of me (I was on the bed, he kneeling on the floor). He shook his head. "No, I did some thinking while you were away, Kat, and I've been talking to Freyja."

I still felt a twinge of jealousy at him saying her name. But I swallowed it and nodded. "Yes?"

"Well, it appears that she dreams of Loki every night, yes? And has been ever since she came here. Now, remember how the Alakazam planted a seed of itself in your head? I think that's what he's done."

I was so startled at the revelation that I almost fell off the bed. "Of course! I mean, we weren't exactly hiding our destinations very well. I mean, how many times did we teleport off somewhere after looking at the maps and not close the books. Except that last time, and then we took her with us! Oh, why couldn't I see it? How could I be so stupid?"

Kameron placed his arm around my neck, nuzzling my cheek. "Don't be so silly," he whispered, "it was not exactly obvious. I only worked it out from conversing with her for long hours, trying to work out what was wrong in her head."

I squeezed him tightly. "And here I thought you were, err…" I couldn't finish, I buried my head in his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

He patted me on the back. "I know, and I should've noticed, I guess I did, but it seemed well, unreasonable to me." He grinned, showing his dimples. "I mean, I knew how I felt about you, and I also have the added advantage that I know how you feel about me. I guess I'm getting used to this empathy thing."

"And neither you nor Freyja knew where I went before, and therefore Loki had no way of tracking us!" I exclaimed. "So, we merely have to hide out destination!"

"I think we have to go to Magenta Valley." Kameron stated.

"_Why? My remaining sister is not there!"_

We had forgotten Fenrill was a part of the conversation. After bringing Jimi and Rowan back to Siryntown University, Jimi had taken up residence in Kameron's room and Rowan was still is hospital, although soon to be discharged. Sam and I were also sharing – but she spent a lot of time in the library and had managed to get herself a part time job, which meant she was not here very often. The other Mew Guardians – Susan, Arielle and Gaijin, had not returned here with us.

"Well, where is she then?"

Fenrill looked distressed. "_She is out there," _she replied, "_but I, I can't find her! I can't feel her!"_

"How often does that happen?" I asked.

"_I have been unable to feel her since before we began the hunt. Which is why I decided she was to be the last to find. I KNOW she is in Team Rocket's clutches, but I do not know where they hold her prisoner. They have shrouded her from me!"_

"This is not a good sign," Kameron voiced his fears. "She could be anywhere in the world…"

"_Indeed."_

"So, Magenta Valley might offer us a clue?"

Fenrill's face fell. "_Very well, let us go there. But please, let us go unannounced this time!"_

"Good plan." Kameron agreed. "Should we take Wild with us?"

"_My sister must remain with Jimi, but she should also remain hidden from Freyja's eyes. Is there somewhere you can send the two of them?"_

I glanced at Kameron, he shrugged. "Is there anyone who might be able to help us in our fight against Loki?"

"_There is my brother."_

"Your _brother_?" I queried, then remembered. "MewTwo! Do you think he might be able to help us?"

__

"Maybe, we can but ask."

"Then someone must go and beg for his help. Since I'm the only one who actually met him, it'll have to be me. I'll take Jimi with me. Kam, do you think you and Rowan could cope with visiting Magenta Valley?"

"Yeah, but I don't think Rowan likes me much. He might try and run me through when you're not around to protect me!"

I threw a pillow at him. "You're big enough and ugly enough to look after yourself Kam. Besides, he's just overly protective because of what happened at Lake Eerie that time."

"I didn't betray you though Kat!" Kameron exclaimed, "I was tricked and trapped!"

"I know that, you know that, and Rowan's been told that, but I think it's time he realised."

"I only hope he will."

"Don't worry," I kissed him on the nose, "I'll send Sam along to keep you guys under control."

"And Freyja?"

"Doctor Warwick can distract her. I'll get him to take her out to the movies or something, something long. We've got to keep her out of the way and distracted as long as possible."

Kameron nodded. "Sounds like a plan, there's only one drawback as far as I can see."

"And what might that be?"

"It means we have to be apart again!"

I squeezed him tight. "It won't be long, and hopefully we'll return with reinforcements. Fenrill, you'll have to go to Magenta Valley with those three, but Wild should be able to Teleport us now – she's certainly got stronger."

She'd been pigging out on chocolate for the last two days, and was now almost verging on hyperactive.

"Is there anyway we can travel together?"

"Only if we send Jimi, Sam and Rowan off by themselves, and none of them are quite as experienced with saving the world as we are! Besides, if Loki's still there, they won't be able to cope."

"You're right," Kameron replied. "But I'm gonna miss you!"

"Oh, come on, it's only for a day or so. Anyway, let's track the others down and tell them what we're planning."

Kameron nodded in agreement, and so it was done.

*

__

(Hi everyone! It's Kameron here, Kat finally told me that I could have a go at writing. About time if you ask me! I mean, you've heard from Doctor Warwick and Rowan, yet I'm nearly the main character! So, anyway, whilst she runs off with Wild to talk to her old friend, MewTwo, I'm off to Magenta Valley to look at a devastated village, in hope of finding clues. Sound exciting? It should!)

Magenta Village did not look too good. The main street had disappeared entirely, leaving in its wake naught but a few very charred bricks. The fire, it appeared, had turned the rest to dust and blown it away on the wind. Rowan scowled.

"I don't see why we had to come here!" He said. He had only been discharged from hospital that morning, and I was beginning to wish they had kept him longer. Perhaps sleep and fluids would be good for him, but it seemed he was as resilient as Kat and I. And he had insisted on coming along. He had also tried to insist that he accompany Kat and Jimi, but she, bless her, had been adamant – it was I that was going to be cursed with his company. Anybody would suspect that she might be trying to push us together in the hopes of us becoming friends. I suspected she would be sorely mistaken.

Samantha was very quiet, still looking the tomboy. In fact, she looked so much the tomboy that Rowan had not even tried to hit on her yet. I was beginning to wonder if he was running a fever. From what I knew of him (And what Fenrill had told me) anyone would think that he would be unable to control himself around anybody of the opposite gender, no matter how non-feminine they looked.

That was all beside the point. What was the point was that the little village of Magenta Valley had been reduced to ruins. A few blocks out of the main centre, the houses still stood. The brick ones, anyway. Nothing remained of the wooden buildings but scorched shells. It was Rowan that made the discovery first. The nosy kid had ducked into the nearest house, probably looking for something to steal.

"Hey, guys!" He shouted, his voice sounding muffed, "look what I found!"

I glanced at Sam, and she nodded, then both of us hurried after him. What we saw was horrendously freaky:

The family of this house had been inside when the wall of fire hit. They had remained in their house, hoping the bricks would protect them from the heat. They had been wrong. Although the flames had not actually raced through the house, the heat had. In the living room, or the shell of one, a woman clung to her small child. As Rowan walked over to them, the mere whisper of wind caused by his movement, made the ash scatter, and the human figures disintegrated.

"Your friend did this?" Rowan asked, his voice fragile, frightened. There was terror in his eyes.

"So I have guessed." I replied, as calmly as I could. The problem was, it was very hard for me to remain calm. Although I could shut it out if I concentrated hard enough, on the edges of my hearing I could make out the screams in terror as the villagers realised the impending doom. I could feel the cold shiver of fear, the bitter taste of terror and the nauseating scent of death. Closing my eyes, I bit my lip to fight off the memories, I could not faint, not in front of Rowan.

Rowan, however appeared not to notice, as he was busy rummaging through the peoples' belongings. Most of it was in a similar state as the people, well baked, and naught but ash. 

"What are you doing?" Sam scowled, glaring at him.

I, mean while, was leaning against the wall, biting my lip and trying to think not of pain and torment and death but of Kataryna, of her beautiful teal eyes and golden hair. I brought an image of her to mind and there I held it. It worked – the darkness vanished, for a few moments, into nothing but a dull background throb.

"I'm searching for clues," Rowan snapped, "what did you think I was doing?"

"Stealing their valuables," Sam replied, sounding not in the slightest guilty at the thought.

Rowan stared at her and then his gaze turned to me. I could see the anger in his eyes, the ill-disguised contempt, and feel it as true as a needle to the heart. He was Kat's childhood friend, and he could not accept me for what I was. What I had been.

"I think that's more up Kameron's alley," he said, "since he was noted to be a common thief."

I had to struggle to keep from retorting, but it was not hard – for there was no response to that comment. I had been a common thief, or an uncommon one, there was no denying that.

"Will you two children stop it?" Sam scowled, before we'd even begun this "it" she was talking about. "Many people have died here, I think you should set aside your childish comments and behaviour and consider what interest Loki may have had in this little township."

Rowan scowled, but I was somewhat perturbed myself. Here I was getting blamed and it had, after all, been Rowan making the snide comments.

"Is this village famous for _anything_?" Rowan asked, "or is it just some dump in the middle of nowhere?"

His attitude really was beginning to annoy me. He just seemed to show no sense of mourning for all the poor innocents who had perished here. Of course, I could not sense that deeply into his emotions, it was possible he had just buried his remorse beneath disdain.

Suddenly Sam clicked her fingers. "I remember!" She exclaimed. "They mine sun stones here!"

"Sun stones? What's a sunstone?" I asked, feeling somewhat foolish.

"It's a stone used to evolve certain Pokemon – like Flower types. Quite rare. This is the only place in the world where it exists in large enough qualities to mine. And its valuable not only because of its evolution properties, but because it glows ever so brightly, better then a moon stone and is almost as rare."

"You're beginning to sound like Doctor Warwick," I grinned, "been spending a lot of time together?"

She blushed a vivid scarlet red. That was enough answer for me, I could sense the warmth she felt when I mentioned his name. It outshone the fear and death – mainly because that, although strong, was not coming from a current source, but from instead a memory.

Rowan groaned. "So what if he's after a Sun Stone? What use would this all-powerful, god-like monster want with a mere stone?"

I did not answer, although I knew the answer. The Sun Stone was the key ingredient for creating Shadow Stones. The most dangerous and powerful Evolution stones in the world. There was only one known to be in existence, and I had destroyed it, dropping it in molten lava (oh, I guess we forgot to mention that… but we could hardly keep such a dangerous object just lying around, could we?). Loki, however, had broken into the creator's, one Doctor Krakenstein (now deceased), home and stolen it, and we had reclaimed it from him. It was possible that Loki had hidden away some of the documents containing its creation. We had already learnt that Doctor Krakenstein kept meticulous notes about everything, we still had his Eeveelution diary, which made a passing reference to the Shadow Stone's initial ingredient, although we did not know what to do with the Sun Stone once we had it. Besides, there were some things we definitely did not want to experiment with!

"Maybe he has a Vileplume he wants to evolve?" Sam ventured.

"It makes no difference," I replied a little too quickly. "We have to find out where he went with it. And because he can fly, he's going to be very hard to track…"

"You don't think he left a note saying, "taken the Sun Stone to Barling Island - do you?" Rowan chuckled. "Or maybe he left us a map, marked with a big X." Rowan almost fell over laughing. "Nah, he's long gone and I betcha none of us have any idea where he is."

I frowned. "This is no time for mirth, Rowan, besides, maybe Fenrill can help us – she's a stronger psychic then me. Where is Fenrill anyway?"

At that point we all realised we had not seen the Mew for some time now. It was almost as though she had vanished into smoke. Sam drew out her Pokeball, releasing her Mew. The Rainforest Mew had not quite recovered from having her powers drained, but although weak, she still retained some psychic prowess.

"_Mya_, can you sense where Loki has gone?" She asked.

I received a flash of fear from the little greenish Mew. It stared at her wide-eyed. "_Don't make me go near him again. He nasty and reek of evil."_

"I'm not going to make you go near him," Sam explained, gently patting her little Mew. "I just am wondering I you know whereabouts he might be."

__

"Good long way away, long distance. But he was here. I feel him here." She shuddered, her frail body cuddling close in Sam's arms. Sam stroked her reassuringly.

"Do not fear, little one, I won't let him hurt you again. And we will destroy him."

"It's a shame Wild ain't here," Rowan sighed, "she would've been more helpful…"

"It's not Mya's fault," Sam explained, "she was just traumatised by the whole experience, as I'm sure you would've been, had you ever met Loki, so do not judge yet, okay?"

"Right!" Rowan nodded. "But can we get out of here now? This place is giving me the creeps!"

"Hear, hear!" I exclaimed, relieved to finally be leaving the charcoal house of ashes.

Once outside the empathic curse was weaker, although ever prevalent. I called for Fenrill, and after a moment she appeared, bouncing on a bubble through the air.

"_You must come with me immediately,"_ she Sent, staring at me with those piercing blue eyes.

Sam had already recalled her Mew, for the poor thing was too scared and frail to be out of its ball for long – especially in this rather adverse environment. It was especially adverse to psychics like her and myself. I felt a sickness in the pit of my stomach and a headache was beginning to throb its way across my temples. It felt a little like the onset of the 'flu, except that nothing I could take for it would relieve me from it. Except perhaps heavy drugs, that would dull my mind. 

As I have said before, Empathy is as much a curse as a blessing.

"Where to?" I asked her, and she did a little loop de loop, before flipping away, landing neatly every thirty feet or so onto the ground. The landscape was completely and utterly barren here. Aside from the brick houses, all the trees and wooden things had been instantaneously vaporised and all that was left of the people were dark shadows on the ground or the brick walls.

Which was extremely freaky in itself, but better then ash statues.

Glancing at my companions, I bounded after her, struggling to keep up, whilst also avoiding to step on the dark human shapes on the hard, heat-packed ground. It was almost as though the people had been vaporised, and all that remained was their shadows. I knew that was not exactly true.

This was plainly no volcanic explosion though, for the heat had been more directed, not to mention that their was no molten lava or hardened magma in sight. Just this barren landscape.

"Where are we going?"

__

"To the mines," Fenrill answered. And then we were left trailing her tail.

The mines had clearly been attacked too, although not with searing heat. It looked as though some enormous claw had taken hold of the rock face and just torn it free. I could barely suppress a shudder, the immense power!

"That's pretty cool," Rowan admitted, "I'm glad he who did that ain't around anymore!"

Fenrill had already vanished into its gloomy darkness. So, we had little choice but to follow.

Inside it was dark, and smelt odd, almost like sulphur. The emotional fingerprint was lesser here – plainly there had been noone here when Loki had struck. The place was in shambles, however, chunks of rock littered the ground, and the support beams on the ceiling seemed to be cracked and bending a little under the weight. I began to feel a little uncomfortable, but was hardly about to let Rowan see my trepidation.

The good thing was, I received the sense of nervousness from him too. I flashed him a smile for a moment, trying to reassure him, but he looked away, unwilling to accept it.

Well, that was fine then. "It's kinda dark in here," Sam commented after a moment. "Does anyone have a fire Pokemon?"

Flipping a Pokeball into the air, Rowan released Mercury, his beautiful Ninetails. She glowed with the strange luminiscence that fire pokemon have when they are super-heated, and haughtily she gazed around the corridor. She did not seem to keen on the dark, deep tunnel, but Fenrill was already leaving and if we did not follow, we would lose her, so after a moment, Rowan urged her onwards.

Most reluctantly, holding her tails in a fashion that clearly said she was not pleased with this state of affairs and felt we were teaching her quite unfairly, she stalked off down the tunnel in front of us.

After a moment, the destruction became, if anything, worse. Some of the caves were entirely blocked off by fallen rubble, others almost choking. There was some dust in the air – most of it disturbed by our passing. 

"Nini!" Mercury barked, and we hurried to her side, she stood in front of a blocked tunnel, Fenrill floating above her head. "Ni!" She added urgently, pointing one leg, the way a pointer dog might. 

"There's something behind there?" Rowan asked, crouching down beside her.

__

"Very good, Einstein," Fenrill replied wryly. "_So hurry up and clear it away!"_

I glanced at Rowan. "Got any Pokemon good for digging?"

For a moment he frowned, then shook his head. "Not really. I mean, Goldstreak could blow them away – but then whatever was on the other side would be likely to get injured, so that's not a good idea…" He looked at Sam, "how about you?"

"I have a Tauros," she said cheerfully, "but I'm not quite sure how one of those could successfully help in this cavern. What we need is a Nidoqueen or king or a Rhyhorn. Or some similar ground type."

"I guess then hands and claws it is," I replied brightly, "if we set all of our pokemon to the task, it shouldn't take too long."

Mercury stuck her nose in the air, and shook her head. She was definitely not going to engage in such horrendous physical activity.

"I think we've forgotten something important," I reminded them, "Fenrill, why don't you transform into a Poliwrath or something?"

"_I wondered when you would ask," _Fenrill replied, assuming Poliwrath form, and easily lifting a few of the rocks from the top. She dropped these neatly just in front of Mercury's nose, making the Ninetails glare at her and snarl. "_Oops,"_ she said lightly. "_I'll have to try better next time."_ The fox pokemon snarled, then turned tail and stalked back down the tunnel, plunging us into total darkness.

"Great, now our light source has gone." I sighed.

"Oh, never mind, you can always just bend over and pull down your pants, so people can see the light shining out of your…."

"How very mature," I interjected. "I think you were stranded too long in the middle of nowhere. It seems to have addled your brain."

Rowan narrowed his eyes, and I could feel his fury rising. Around me he was always like a spring, stretched to tension point. "You think you're so wonderful, don't you, just because you managed to catch Kataryna."

"What?" I was surprised, slightly, I knew he was jealous, but I didn't think he would bring it up here. "She chose me, thank you very much!"

"Yeh, right, you manipulated and lured her into your bed. You're just lucky I wasn't here. I've been her friend her whole life, and you don't even know her, yet you waltzed on in, tricked her and imprisoned her."

"I did no such thing!" I was indignant, he was basically insulting everything I held dear. "Kat and I love each other, as you well know!"

You could cut the jealous exuding from him with a knife. Unfortunately, not only could I sense it, but I was experiencing it too, something that happens when emotion is powerful enough. And it was fuelling my own fire.

Rowan had no real reply to that, but he made an effort at it anyway. "Well, I'll have you know, Kambell, that last time we were together, she shared my blankets with me. And there was not a lot between us, I might add." He winked so as I would recognise the implied innuendo.

I just sighed, "you were unconscious from freezing waters," I said shaking my head, "I do not think that really counts. And my name is Kameron, as you well know!"

"Whatever, you just have everything you want in life, don't you? Well, did you ever stop to think that maybe the rest of us have feelings too?"

I paused, forcing myself to keep calm. "Are you trying to say that you fancy Kat? Is that what this is all about?"

He looked away, unable to meet my gaze and I knew I was right.

Suddenly a great spray of water struck us hard, sending both of us tumbling over and against the wall in a disheveled mix of arms and legs. Fenrill, still in Poliwrath form, stood there, hands on her hips.

"_Shut up and forget your stupid courtship battles!" _Fenrill shrieked, her voice high pitched with frenzy. Sam was trying hard not to laugh as we disentangled ourselves. "_I brought you here for a purpose! There is a living being behind this rock fall somewhat more important then your stupid mate rivalry!"_

Feeling suitably abashed, we struggled to our feet, our clothing dripping and our hair hanging in our eyes. I felt I understood Rowan a little better now though. It was just jealousy, and he felt I didn't deserve Kataryna. I wondered what he had done that meant he was worthy of her.

"Thanks for the cold shower, furrball," Rowan said, mostly cheerful, "you really washed us down…"

"_Right, now move this damned wall!"_ And the Poliwrath started shifting rocks again. 

I brought out my Pokeballs, releasing my Pokemon. Azriel playfully started kicking one of the rocks, and tackling it as though it was edible, and Shadeon stared at the wall.

"_Shaaaaa_," she hissed.

"_The Shadeon wishes to go through and see if she can help on the other side."_

"No!" I replied quickly, as I was starting to get impressions of fear and discomfit from beyond the wall. "Sorry Shadeon, but you're quite terrifying, to both Pokemon and humans. I know you just want to help."

"_Shaa shaaaa_," she whimpered sadly, and then recalled herself, leaving me feeling terrible. Azriel frowned at me for a moment, before resuming his assault on the rock.

"Marrill, Dancer, Lucifer," I called out the remainder of my Pokemon – none of which would be overly useful, except to carry the smaller rocks outside the caverns. Lucifer immediately cowered behind my legs, whimpering. It seemed my Dark dog was afraid of the dark… typical…

"We need some light in here," I reminded Rowan, "could you perhaps coax your Ninetails back to help? She can just watch if she won't make herself useful in any other way."

For once, Rowan agreed with me, although he did not seem too happy with it. He whistled, and after the longest moment the graceful fox came walking elegantly back towards us, illuminating the dark corridors. Lucifer immediately relaxed. He was a fire type too, but being only a baby, had not developed the strength to glow yet.

Primly, Mercury sat down, holding her tails aloft so they would not get dirty off the cave floor.

By the light of the Ninetails, we went about our business. Fenrill and us humans removed chunks of rock, and Azriel, Dancer, Electra, Fidget and Marril helped ferry it out of the way. Goldstreak had difficulty in the tunnels, as its wingspan was too great, and Lucifer did not want to leave my side. Titus, the Meowth that Rowan had brought back with him, found a small round rock that glowed, and crouched over it possessively, staring at it and growling at is alternately.

"Sun stone," Samantha said, pointing to it. "There should be more of them here, but I guess Loki was thorough in his thievery."

Titus mantled his prize and growled some more.

After about half an hour of solid work, we managed to clear an opening, big enough for one person to climb through. Samantha was nominated for the job – being the smallest of us three. We helped her up, providing lift for her feet, and then, with Rowan recalling Titus, handed her the Sun stone, to help illuminate her find.

We could not watch what happened, of course, but I could sense it. I could feel the fear and loneliness switch to confusion and then to joy. However, I could not seek further information on the being beyond the wall – whether it be human, pokemon or something else entirely.

"Right, we're coming back now!" I heard Samantha calling in a muffled voice, and realised for the first time that what we were saying and doing could be heard, just as clearly, on the other side. I felt a blush of embarrassment as I realised how childish and stupid our argument must have sounded.

A moment later a young girl crawled through the opening, and half slid, half fell, down the rock face. Rowan and I both raced to catch her, with Rowan being faster then I.

He caught her gently around the waist and eased her to the ground. I hoped for a moment that he wasn't trying anything to get more "friendly" with her. I needn't have worried, as soon as she touched ground they jumped apart.

She was tall, almost as tall as me, certainly taller then Kat, with shoulder length mousy-brown hair and somewhat askew glasses. I suppose she might also have been pretty – but with all the grime and dust covering her features, it was hard to tell.

"Hi," I said, "I'm Kameron, and this is…"

Rowan interrupted me, stepping forward and bowing formally, before taking her hand and making an attempt at kissing it (although I suspect he kissed his thumb instead, since her hands were quite as dirty as ours). "Greetings, my name is Rowan, and I am pleased to be of service."

"Oh, cut the rubbish," Sam sprang down beside us. "How nice of you to help me down, oh, but Sam can do it herself, can't she just?" She grinned, putting an arm around the girl. "Now, don't go scaring her, okay? She's had a pretty gruelling time in there and we don't want to make it worse, do we just?"

Shyly, the girl suddenly realised she was still holding Rowan's hand and jerked back, adjusting her glasses nervously. "Hi," she said softly, "I'm glad you saved me. Err, I'm Coral, and I was visiting this village with my best friend." Suddenly her shoulders shook and a tear ran down her cheek, cutting a furrow in the grime.

Sensing her sorrow (and seeing it, I mean, come on… I'm not stupid!), I patted her on the shoulder. I didn't know what to say – I mean what do you say to someone who has just lost everything in a terrible catastophe? Including her closest friend?

Rowan saved me the trouble of thinking of something. "I'm sorry to hear that," he replied, "we must fetch you somewhere warm straight away." He glanced pointedly at Fenrill, once again in Mew form.

"You don't understand!" She exclaimed, pushing me away. "Kate's not dead – it took her!"

This startled all of us. "It?"

"The Demon – it was like a terrible beast from Hell! It rose up at the head of the valley and from its hands sent a blast of horrible fire. We ran – along with many others, and the Demon herded them together and then an eerie purple glow surrounded them and they disappeared, seeming to be sucked into this strange device he was holding. It looked kinda like a large horseshoe… Kate and I were on the outskirts, and we ran, but Kate slipped and I didn't notice. Not until it was too late and he'd captured her. I ducked into the cave mouth, and he came in after me, his hands tearing huge chunks from the walls, even though he was not much taller then any of us. I ducked down a short corridor, realised how short it was and whirled in terror, only to be almost hit by tons of falling rock. One knocked me unconscious, and when I came too I was lying in this little dead end corridor with a huge pile of rocks beside me." She swayed a little, and it was then that I noticed the dried blood on her temple.

"Wee need to get you to a doctor!" I exclaimed, "and then we'll see about saving your friend. Can you help with that, Fenrill?"

"_I can try, but I will need to try through her mind like I tried through yours, Rowan. It will be hard for her, especially in her weakened state."_

"Somehow I'll think she'll agree to it!" I replied, "but let's get her somewhere safe first."

"Agreed," Rowan said loudly and quickly.

* * *

__

In a strange part of the Orange Islands

Somehow, against all odds, Jimi and I (yes, its me Kat again, in case you didn't guess already) had found the island. Wild had been unable to teleport us there, explaining that their was some sort of psychic barrier preventing that sort of behaviour. So, instead we had hired a small Seadra Paddleboat (which brought back memories of my dear Razor) and made our way there the hard way, Wild leading us in the form of a beautiful, sleek Dolfin.

The island was much the way I remembered it, with the thick rainforest-like bush surrounding the outside and masking the lower portions of the great mountain that rose directly from the middle. The tip of the mountain was lost in cloud, but still fancied I could see a shape up there, a Charizard circling, ever watchful.

The place impressed Jimi, probably because he was used to the cold and dreary forests of northern Scandinavia, and, as usual, it was raining, but only lightly this time.

Firstly, I showed Jimi the tree, which still stood there, hung with pokeballs and collars, bows and other scraps of these poor Pokemons' human existence. The Pidgeotto on guard duty appeared to recognise me, and swooped down, cooing to have its head scratched and glaring at Jimi as though he had come to cause enormous pain upon us. Wild sat on his shoulder, currently in the form of a Pidgey. These versatile birds had adapted to live across the ocean wave, feeding on small fish as they came near the surface and also on the leavings of human picnickers. She was faintly bluish in this form, and had a forked tail, but the Pidgeotto did not appear to recognise her as anything more then a common Pidgey.

"Hi," I said, "can you please pass my greetings on to Mewtwo, and tell him I have a surprise for him, and also a rather large request…"

"Ottoo!" The bird agreed, and flapped over the high wall. A moment later a gateway opened along it, and Mewtwo, clad in a black cape, stepped out.

Wild let out a shriek, one of both joy and a little fear, I suspect, and immediately transformed into her normal form.

"_My brother," _ she whispered, "_Fenrill has told me much about you."_

He bowed to her, and smiled at me. Greetings Kat-samma, what an unexpected delight. And greetings too to my sister of the ocean waves. He turned his eyes to Jimi and I sensed some anger there. But who is this that you have brought with you?

"This is Jimi, he's Wild's Guardian, and my friend."

You are welcome here, Kataryna Lemusu. But, I must confess I have some misgivings that you chose to bring a friend along with you.

"I'm sorry, but Wild would never have come without him."

Mewtwo nodded sagely. Agreed, but that does not mean I have to approve of your decision. I just hope your friend can keep quiet about our location.

"Of course I can," Jimi snickered, "I barely know where we are at any rate."

At that Mewtwo smiled. I am glad you brought my sister to me. Tentatively, the little Mew zipped over to him and gave him a light hug. She seemed unsure, which was to be expected – although he was their brother, he was also a genetically created mutant, developed by Team Rocket.

"I think there's someone here who'll be glad to be back," I said with a grin, producing Chiko's Pokeball and releasing the Chikorita. She took one look around at us and:

"CHIKO!"

in delight. We both laughed. A small head was poking around beside Mewtwo's legs, another Chikorita. Nervously, it seemed, Chiko strolled over and touched noses with this new Pokemon, then the two had a quiet conversation.

You must come in, Mewtwo said, gesturing, but first you have forgotten something.

"Ah, yes," I drew out all my Pokeballs, "come on out Dragosi and Flora, Florion and, err, Ootachi!"

I had brought most of my Pokemon with me, especially since Florion rather wanted a break, but had left Ozmos and the eevees in the capable hands of Doctor Warwick, who had entrusted them to behave whilst he took Freyja out to a movie. I think they were planning on seeing "Pearl Harbour", it was long enough, at any rate. I think my Florion was rather glad to be away from the children for a while, and it would only be a few hours. I carefully sized down my Pokeballs and hid them away behind a bush, knowing how hated such things were in this village. Then I grinned at Jimi.

"You're about to see what life is like for ex-trained Pokemon." 

He looked puzzled, until he remembered our earlier argument and shook his head solemnly. 

And then we entered the village.

It was much more festive then last time, and I was almost bowled over by the Clefable running over to hug me.

"Yooou have re-turrrrned!" It trilled.

"I have come with a request for your Elder," I explained. "It is not a good request, but it is a most important one. I require his help."

Around us Pokemon were starting to gather, some coming out from the ruined buildings, others materialising from behind trees. Amongst our collection stood a strange two headed Pokemon – one head being on its tail, and on the back of this crouched a very small Cleffa. It was the first time I had ever seen the baby Clefairy, and it was an endearing wee fellow, currently sucking its thumb.

They all stood there, staring at me, waiting for me to speak. 

Jimi began to look slightly nervous.

"I remember last time I came here there was a tale – the tale of the Seven Sisters, the Seven Mews." Most of the assembled Pokemon nodded in agreement. "Well, I am here to report that they have all awoken."

At this, Wild flitted into the air and did a somersault. There was a cheer going up around the group. I put up my hand to silence them.

"There is bad news however. For a human, like myself, only cruel in his intentions, is attempting to steal the power of the Mews. He has already claimed the powers of four of them.

The three that remain are Wild here; Fenrill, who has been my companion through it all and your Elder's sister-mother. The rest, although still alive, are weak."

After a shocked gasp, the masses had fallen into deep reverent silence.

"So the human, who calls himself Loki, has now obtained the skills of fire, ice, jungle and air. He is almost unbeatable – which is why I have come here, for we need your help, Mewtwo. Only you, the most powerful Pokemon that has ever lived, could help defeat this monster."

Silence.

And then Mewtwo stepped forward, a solemn look on his face. I knew your coming here was not a social occasion, he broadcast to us all, and I shall naturally assist you – for I know that this evil can only come from the roots of Team Rocket, and they are my eternal enemy. Also, I must help my Sisters, and the world, for if a human can gain the powers of the Mews, he surely shall be a God. He gulped. But I must complete my affairs here before I can face your great evil.

"That's okay," I replied, "we have to find and rescue your mother first – the last Mew unaccounted for. Then we shall lure Loki into a trap, and spring it, bringing you upon him. We shall send for you when the time is right."

He nodded majestically. I thank you for your honesty. And also for keeping my sister's safe. Please, tell Fenrill that I miss her, and would love to see her again. She and I were more then sisters.

And with this final, almost cryptic, speech, he turned from us and back towards his Pokemon. Now, Pokemon of the free village, you have the chance to fight back at those that have hurt you. A man has declared himself a God, and is hurting us all to gain what is not his by rights. Therefore, we must learn to fight, for he will surely not come alone.

No, I thought, he probably won't. But I did not know then quite how offensive his army was to be. Kameron was about to enlighten me.

* * *

"And did they convince you that Trained Pokemon are less likely to survive on the outdoors?" Kameron asked, leaning his head on the back of the chair he was perched, backwards on.

"Nope," Jimi replied cheerfully, stroking the Ootachi's head, "okay, so those ones weren't capable of living wild, not properly, they have civilisation, of a sort – heck, they even had a primitive form of agriculture. That's not the point, less humanised Trained Pokemon, like Kat's Seadra, would survive in the wild, no problemo, and be stronger because of it. I mean, Kat and Rowan, you remember how you found him? Yes?"

"Yeh," Rowan replied, idly flicking a peanut shell onto the floor where it was immediately pounced on by Lucifer. "The poor thing was sick. It would've died if we didn't catch it. And look at Razor now, he's a big strong Kingdra!"

"My point entirely," Jimi said, staring pointedly at me. 

"Anyway," Kameron interjected, "so he said he would do it?"

"Yep," I replied, scratching Flora's chin. "Agreed to it straight away and everything. Even offered to bring along some fighters."

Coral, as shy as she was, sat cross-legged on the bed, a fresh bandage across her cut forehead. Sam sat beside her, keeping her company. The poor girl must have been somewhat shaken, after all she had been through, and to be thrown into the midst of our rather bizarre little group with all its inner bickering must have been rather stressful!

Doctor Frances paced over to the fridge, pushing away Titus, who was sitting in front of it expectantly, with his foot. As he got some milk for his coffee, he said; "next time you plan on visiting such a fascinating social structure of Pokemon, Kataryna, please do include me, as I would be most fascinated in studying the diversity and altruism, not to mention then dietry habits."

Sam threw a pillow at him, "speak English Professor," she said, grinning slyly.

"Why, I thought I was," he answered. "You really do not want to get me started. But please, I would much rather be studying a Pokemon civilisation then watching a long and drawn out movie to stroke America's ego, as if it wasn't already stroked enough."

"Did you enjoy stroking Freyja's ego?" Rowan asked, wickedly. We all scowled at him. He held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, sorry, but he had it coming, you've got to admit it!"

"So, children," I began, "what's the plan now? We have MewTwo's agreement to help, we have learnt that Loki is attempting to recreate the Shadow Stone. We can only expect that he either needs to make a lot of them, or that it is a highly risky process, for he has gathered hundreds of the things. We can just assume that he had obtained an item ball."

"Fenrill has said she can find Kate," Kameron pointed out, "but we need to hurt Coral more. You know how bad it was, Rowan, would you be willing to let her undertake it?"

Rowan shuddered at the memory. "I wouldn't wish it upon anyone," he replied, "but it is necessary. I just wish there was another way." He glanced up at Coral, who, clad in one of Kameron's shirts (my clothes were too small for her, since I stood a mere five seven), had polished up quite nicely. She had not said much though, preferring to listen. I was not surprised, to anyone not already part of our little group we must appear horribly rude and callous. At least to each other.

Frances sat down. "Please," he said plaintively, "let me come along with you on the next expedition. I promise I won't tell Freyja anything. Just don't make me see that film again!"

I grinned, "calm down, Prof, you won't ever have to watch it again, okay? I thought you'd enjoy a date with such a pretty thing." I winked at him.

Surprisingly, he shuddered, "I guess you thought wrong. Oh, she's pretty alright, but she's kinda…" he paused, as though searching for something that didn't sound too cruel. "Vacant," he settled on.

"Yeh, sexy chick, but it'd be like dating a doll, hey, ouch!" Rowan clutched his leg. "Kat!"

"Can we just keep this to topic please," I sighed.

"We don't want to have to drag you off to a cold shower, Row," Jimi grinned.

"Aww, and I wanted you to join me too, Jimbo."

Coral was looking completely confused and a bit bemused. I didn't blame her. "Err," she said tentatively, "you are going to help rescue my friend, aren't you?"

"Of course, ignore them, they're just all deranged," Sam grinned, patting her on the shoulder.

"Okay," I tried once again to get things on topic, "we have to locate Kate's presence, and hopefully find Loki as well. I talked to Mewtwo, and he gave me directions to the old laboratory, where he was born, but I have a feeling that the Mew would have been moved by now, I just don't know where too. I'd guess somewhere isolated, and it is also guarded against psychic transmissions, because the Mews can't sense her. So, we need to get every psychic Pokemon together we can manage, and try and pinpoint using a map where the barrier is."

"_I hate to point this out," _Fenrill sent to those of us who could understand, "_but the world is a very, very big place and I would strongly suspect that it would take many eons for psychics to scan the whole world. Do you know how much chocolate you would need?"_

"Well, can you think of a better idea?"

__

"You know three Team Rocket members on a semi-friendship level, four if you count Kameron. Surely one of them must have heard something."

"Don't look at me," Kameron shrugged, "they never told me anything."

"And Freyja is not really all that capable of thought. Do you think you could find Jessie and James?" Doctor Warwick asked.

"Once upon a time I could have found them just by contacting Ash," I replied, "but I think they've given up on that now. I haven't seen either of them since they helped us save the world."

"Drat… I guess they won't be found unless they want to be. Anyone here a wanna-be detective?"

"A wanna-be defective," Rowan grinned at Kameron. I wasn't sure if he was being cruel or it was some sort of in-joke.

"Why don't we just get Fenrill to find where Kate is and then scan it to see if it's psychically protected?" Coral offered, slightly tentatively.

"If it is, will we be able to find Kate at all?" I asked Fenrill.

__

"Maybe, it will be hard, and will require both of us, but our combined psychic abilities should be enough to break through any barrier."

I translated for the benefit of Coral and Frances. The rest of us were attuned to Mew-speak.

"Right then," Frances said standing up and brushing his pants. "Let us start our search."

And we finally got on target and started devising a plot. It began with identifying the location of Kate, then rescuing the captives and hopefully finding the Mew's location in the process. Once we had found her, we could rescue her and then set a trap for Loki. It was a pretty involved plan, but one that might work. If we had luck on our side.

*

Coral lay on my bed, pillows beneath her head. She was visibly shaking, which was only to be expected, as Fenrill was about to perform the same treatment she had used on Rowan, to locate Electra. Basically, she needed to search their memories for details regarding their lost friends, and then pinpoint their location using these memories and feelings. She could no use her own - for she had never met Electra or Kate, she had to rely on the deeper feelings that they felt for their friends.

Rowan sat beside Coral, perched on my bedside stool. I think he understood better then anyone quite how hard the memory-scanning technique was. After some effort, I had managed to shoo everyone else out of the room and off to the University Café, and had managed to send my more obtrusive Pokemon – namely Maki and Ozmos (who wasn't obtrusive but went where there was food) with them. I had tried to send Rowan, but he had insisted he stay, as no-one understood what Coral would be going through more then he. Kameron, on the other hand, had been more then willing to hot-tail it out of here, and I wasn't surprised. It could not be a pleasant experience, not when he had such strong empathy.

"_I wish to apologise in advance," _Fenrill sent. "_This will pain you somewhat, but I will do it as quickly as possible. Are you ready?"_

I translated the "mew"s for Coral, and then we both sat there and watched, as Fenrill perched on the pillows, and placed her hands on the girl's forehead. She began making those odd keening sounds, and Coral went a little bit pale, a look of nervousness crossing her face.

"It'll be fine," I said gently, "just close your eyes, and think of Kate, that'll make it easier for her."

Coral nodded, and appeared to obey me. A moment later her eyes shot open and she let out a gasp, her eyes rolling back in their sockets, revealing the white. It all looked rather familiar to me. I lunged forward, grasping her arm, as I predicted her next move. Rowan glanced at me, then quickly gripped hold of her other arm, just as she spasmed once, her fingernails digging into my arm. She let out another startled gasp. Her whole body shuddered, as Fenrill delved into her deeper memories.

Suddenly the keening died off, and the Mew was silent, levitating into the air. Still shaking, Coral opened her eyes.

"Is it over?" She asked, "does anyone have an aspirin?"

I grinned. "It's over, how do you feel?"

"Like a thousand Pidgeys are having a very loud conversation in my head," she replied. 

"None too pleasant, is it?" Rowan remarked. "You're lucky you've got a nice soft bed and drugs handy. I had to be scanned on the bleeding beach." He crouched down beside her, whilst I came back bearing a glass of water and two tablets. "Don't worry, the pain'll go away. Eventually."

She managed a grin at him. I was surprised, Rowan, so quippy and smart-mouthed, appeared to be being nice. There had to be something wrong with him. I wondered for a moment if he might be ill.

"_Right," _Fenrill said, "_I think I've located her. Bring me the map of the world."_

"That far away is it?" I asked, fetching the atlas off my book case, and opening it on the floor. 

"_Indeed,"_ Fenrill stabbed out her finger and pointed straight at a large and strange looking continent towards the bottom of the map.

"Australia?" I queried. I then saw she was pointing slightly to the south of it. "Tasmania?"

The Mew nodded. "_It is indeed."_

"But that's like on the other side of the world. How the heck did Loki get over there? Does he know Teleport too?"

Fenrill shook her head, "_Teleport to that distance is only found in us true Mews and possible also my brother. Loki will not gain the power to teleport more then a few kilometers until he has drained us all. Something which MUST never happen."_

"Never fear, " I responded, a little more brightly then I felt. "We will stop Loki."

__

"I know, you are good humans, shame there is not more of you."

* * *

Once again we were gathered about my bedroom, discussing our plan of action. Rowan, I noticed with interest, had taken to sitting near Coral, although that may have been so that he could be as far from Kameron as was possible. They had been a little more civil to one another after the events at Magenta Valley, but still were far from being friends.

"Australia eh," Doctor Warwick grinned, "well, I hope you're going to include your humble mentor in your little adventure this time. I find the ecology of Australia most fascinating."

I frowned at him. "I suppose that could be arranged. So, whose going? Me and Kameron, obviously."

"And me," Coral spoke up, rather tentatively from her perch on the foot of my bed.

Rowan's forehead creased. "I don't know if you should go," he said, almost gently, "I mean, you've been through a lot already."

She scowled. "Kate is MY friend, and you cannot make me stay here." She then looked embarrassed and turned to glance at me. "I can go, right?"

"Of course you can," I replied, "I think we'll need you, after all. It is your friend we are going after."

"I just have one question," Kameron ventured, "how are we supposed to get in once we get there?"

"Good point, they're sure to have intensive alarm systems," I agreed. "So kids, what do you propose we do about it."

"Well, if any of us knew enough about computers we could hack into their alarm system and disable it." Rowan pointed out. He glanced at Coral again. "It's going to be pretty dangerous though."

"Oh, stop babying her," Kameron snapped, "you can look after yourself, right Coral?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm not staying behind anyway."

"Why do you care so much anyway Row?" I queried.

He shrugged, and I'd swear he blushed ever so slightly. I'd never seen Rowan blush before. What had gotten into him? He hadn't even tried to hit on her yet. I think he must have been sickening for something.

Frances grinned. "I have an idea," he said, "I'll see if I can acquire Murphy."

"Murphy?"

He sat down and rested his elbow on his knee, his head on his hand. "Well, as a learning institute, Siryntown University owns a number of the virtual Pokemon known as Porygon. These are used to keep the computer system free of bugs and also to stop students doing things they should not, when logged into the internet. Murphy was acquired for cheap, and we know why. When he is involved, everything that could go wrong with the system does go wrong."

I laughed at the bad pun. "Cute."

"What is?"

"The pun in the name."

"What pun?"

I sighed, it was not worth explaining. "So, you think you can get Murphy for us?"

"I would imagine so, we have no use for him here, after all. And he could mess up their alarm system quite nicely."

"Right, so now we have a mechanism for getting inside. Once we're in there, we disable the electric fence that will ultimately surround it, and enter via a fire exit or something. Then all we have to do is find and rescue the captives."

"Simple," Kameron chuckled, "real simple." I think he was being sarcastic, but it was hard to be sure.

"Coral and I will go inside," I replied, "the rest of you can wait outside in case of danger. We'll sort out more when we actually get there and see it for ourselves.

"Right." For once we were all in agreement.

"_I will come in too," _Fenrill sent, "_I can search the place for clues as to my sister's whereabouts, especially with the help of this Porygon called Murphy."_

"Jimi, Wild and Sam, I advise that you three travel somewhere entirely different, so as to be out of the way. We cannot be sure that Loki won't plan a strike on the University, since he must know we are camped here and if he knows the rest of us have gone…. Rowan, Kameron, Frances, Coral and I will head to Australia. Unless you want to stay and baby-sit Freyja?" I asked Rowan.

I could see the thoughts moving through his head. Freyja was beautiful – and so mentally shaken at the moment that he could, feasibly, get away with almost anything with her. But she was also extremely dim-witted at present. It came from having only a few hours sleep in the last few weeks. Whereas, if he came with us there was the promise of grand excitement and danger. Finally he sorted the thoughts out. "I think I'd rather go. Can't Freyja look after herself?"

"Don't look at me," Frances held up his hands in defeat. "The ecology of Australia deeply fascinates me – there is no other like it on Earth. There are Pokemon there that have never been _seen_ elsewhere. By denying me the chance to go you will be facing my wrath at a later date! Besides, I'm the only one who can get Murphy, and we need Murphy."

I had to confess he was accurate with that one. We would have to get through the alarm system first and foremost. And then it remained to find the captives. And so it was agreed and we set about preparing our things. Frances purposely told Freyja that we were going to Russia, where it appeared the final key to our Mew puzzle lay. And Sam and Jimi decided to go for a trip back to her home place, in order to get Wild safely out of the way.

That left us heading for Australia. We had to suspect Loki would know we would come after his captives, whatever he had taken them for. Someone would be waiting for us.

* * *

"That," Frances pointed out, "is a Firevil, a Pokemon that based its form on that of the animal called the Tasmanian Devil."

The Firevil he was talking about was currently massacring one of our cushions. We had set up a rough campsite in a small plot of trees that Fenrill assured us was about three kilometres from the site, and over a low ridge. We had chosen this spot as it overlooked the high wire fence surrounding the institute. We knew immediately it was a Team Rocket facility, despite the signs proclaiming it a "Military Training Institute." There were not enough people wandering the compound to keep up that cover. It was in a fairly isolated piece of land, a valley surrounded by thick rainforest and with only the roughest of dirt roads running into it. Our lookout also overlooked the road. It had been running, as it was prone to in this area, and the multitude of potholes that covered the dirt road had filled to overflowing with water. In one of them a Farfetch'd and her ducklings were having an enthusiastic swim.

The Firevil had wandered into our campsite, and taken an instant liking to our home comforts. It had snuck in when we weren't looking, and seized the pillow before we could chase it out again. 

"Very nice," I said, "but we can't let it get away with that – if scraps of cloth get down there," I gestured to the institute, "they might become suspicious as to our presences here."

"Good point." Kameron drew out his Pokeball and released his Marrill. The Firevil, with its huge shoulders and massive jaws, barely even glanced at the water Pokemon. Until Marrill sprayed her watergun at it, causing it to dart off, still carrying the cushion.

"Great," I sighed, "now we'll never get it back."

Our camp was a fairly furtive affair. It was an ugly green colour – the sort of colour you would only ever by were you hiding out from someone or something, and we had further camouflaged it by decorating it with twigs. It was invisible ten metres away from the campsite, unless you looked at a certain angle, and we were sure that noone would be able to identify it from the institute three kilometres away. We had erected it in the evening, as it grew dark, without the luxury of torches, so as we would not be spotted. Rowan was currently sitting halfway up a tall gum tree, watching the institute through binoculars. 

This was our second day on watch, and we were starting to work out who regularly made the trip in from the tiny village some twenty kilometres away. Given the perilous terrain it was likely to be a long drive. It appeared that three people regularly made the trip, or at least had two days in a row, and the rest lived on the site. From our viewpoint it was rather a strange sight, a large building stood in the middle, flanked by smaller ones, some of which were private houses. We gathered they must get deliveries of food, since there was no sign of livestock on the property. Or maybe they made bulk purchases from the village.

We had everything we needed in a cooler pack at the back of the tent. That and we had Fenrill, so presuming we didn't run out of chocolate, it was not hard for us to pop to the nearest city and make a purchase or three.

Inside the tent, Coral was lounging on one of our air-beds reading a paperback entitled "Quest for Lemuria" aloud to Maki, who seemed quite taken by her. After being lectured by Doctor Warwick about the dangers of bringing strange animals, or Pokemon, into the ecosystem, we had deemed it appropriate to leave most of our Pokemon in their balls, although Flora and Azriel were playing a complicated game of tag about the campsite, which involved rather a lot of tree scaling and jumping on one another from above. The Umbreon was not nearly as agile as the Floreevee, and constantly tumbled into the dirt. Shadeon sat in the shadows, invisible save for her luminescent red eyes. 

"Do you have Pokemon too?" Doctor Frances asked Coral, as we retreated back under our pavillion to make further plans.

She nodded mutely, turning the book spine up. Maki looked disappointed – it had just got to a good bit, obviously. "I've got a few," she said, "nothing really great though. Wanna see them?"

"Sure!" I answered.

Frances frowned, "okay, but we can't have them running around too much – after all, if any of them are visible from below and don't live here, the residents down there might get suspicious.

"Well, okay," she drew out the first ball, "this is my Growlithe, Firestorm. I kinda want to evolve him into an Arcanine, but I haven't gotten a fire stone yet. And my Pidgeotto, Mecha," she released a rather strange silvery looking Pidgeotto. "I think he escaped from a laboratory or something, or maybe his father was a Skarmory, I found him lost in the woods as a Pidgey – barely able to fly. There's also my Scyther, Slzer, and my Nidoran, Pearl." She released a small, pure white Nidoran female. The pink in its ears and its pupils were almost luminiscent. "She's an albino, and not a very good fighter, but she's very loyal and gentle." Pearl clambered up her Trainer's body and pressed her nose gently against her cheek.

"A novel collection!" I exclaimed, "you've got some rather nice Pokemon, particularly the Pidgeotto."

"Thanks," Coral blushed slightly, recalling all but Pearl. "I've been training Pokemon for a while, but I'm afraid I'm not a very good Trainer. I've only got two badges." She held up her necklace and I saw them hanging there, as pendants.

"Don't feel bad," Kameron grinned, "you've got more on you then Kat and I have between us!"

"But you've got such great Pokemon!" She exclaimed.

I pulled a face. "Oh, granted Maki is great, although he isn't exactly prone to playing by the rules, I decided some time ago that I didn't want to fight my Pokemon. It just didn't really seem fair on them. I mean, I don't like making my friends getting beaten up and badly injured if its to no benefit except to obtain a useless piece of metal. No offence taken."

Coral looked almost hurt. "I never thought about it that way," she answered, "I mean, in some of the battles my Pokemon get hurt, but I always get them healed up straight away. And they seem to enjoy fighting, especially Slzer."

"Don't fret," I replied, patting her on the shoulder, "I just have my views, and well…"

"She's been proven to be wrong before," Kameron grinned.

"Yeh, granted. Besides, my Pokemon have been in their fair share of fights, they've been beaten up a few times too. Do you mind if I hold your Pearl?"

"Not if she doesn't mind you holding her," Coral handed her over. The little Nido kicked a bit with her feet before settling down, cradled against my chest. Her fur was so silky soft, and I felt a longing to see my Nidorino again. 

"Where did you get this wee beauty from?" I asked.

"Well, that was odd. See, I was visiting this place called Lake Eerie, and one foot slipped down some sort of tunnel. I hear there's a labyrinth of underground tunnels down there, anyway, I twisted my ankle badly and was in a great deal of pain. I could not walk back to the village, and it was such a cold night, that I think I may have succumb to mild hypothermia, because I can't remember going to sleep, but I can remember my whole body being chilled like a popsicle. And these two little Nidorans came over and began sniffing at me, as though trying to work out what I was. One of them, a female but a purplish colour, seemed rather wary, but the other one, Pearl here, came right over and crawled into my arms. When I finally had the strength to move and walk, she followed me and so I brought her into my team."

"Lake Eerie, eh," I pondered, "I've been there a couple of times. Hrm, I may even know this little Nido's father, although that's a pretty long shot. My Nidorino is there now, wild again."

"Cool," she replied, as though unsure what was expected.

I handed Pearl back to her. "One day I'll go and visit him, maybe, except I don't want to distrupt his wildlife. It's hard letting Pokemon go."

Coral nodded in agreement, "I can imagine it would be pretty terrible."

Kameron and Frances were discussing things in a low tone over our tiny fold out table. We already had a notebook with details on the behaviour exhibited in the compound below. The one that particularly was important to us were the nightly guards. Last night two men, both with four Houndour, had patrolled the compound, releasing the dogs. It was hard to say what they expected to get through the high electrified fence, but whatever it was would not last long against the dogs.

We huddled together for warmth – a fire, even in the darkness, might be visible from the valley. And if they saw us, we were doomed. Tonight was an important night, for it was a new moon, and everything was very, very dark. In such deep darkness, flames would be easily visible, even if the smoke wasn't.

There were floodlights down on the compound though, making it doubly dangerous for anyone who might wish to pass over the fence. Luckily that was not the plan. The plan tonight was to get an accurate layout of the area – and to do that, we had our special shadow-type.

Shadeon stretched, ready to go. She was fully whole at the moment, as tangible as Azriel, and her fur was cold but silky. She nuzzled my hand and I scratched her behind the ear. It was so rare she could enjoy that, the simplest of pleasures. Of course, she could still turn intangible if she so desired. Kameron handled her special Pokeball almost reverently. It was he, as her Trainer, that had the dangerous task of accompanying her down to the fence. She could not travel that far from her Pokeball without losing some power, and we needed her to be in full control of her skills. Not to mention that there was a lot of exploration to go on, down in the compound, and we did not want her to be limited by her bind.

I walked a short distance down the trail with Kameron. At a distance of about ten metres into the forest, we stopped, and I kissed him partly to reassure him, partly to reassure myself. Then I watched as his tiny flashlight disappeared down the path, and was consumed by the rainforest, along with the faintly glowing figure of Fenrill, darting behind him. She was to help with reconnaissance. A feeling of impending doom watched over me, as though I would never see him again. Maki nudged my cheek with his cold nose, reassuring me that my beloved would return.

As I made my way back to the campsite, Rowan and Frances were swapping places. My childhood friend clambered down and stretched his aching legs. He had been sitting up there for about two hours. With much grumbling, Doctor Frances clambered up the tree – surprisingly agile for one who spent his entire life in an office, and with some delight Rowan flopped onto the airbed. His weight on the other side rolled Coral off of the bed. He chuckled, ever so slightly. 

We had light inside the tent, the canvas was thick enough to hide our tiny Hurricane Lamp, which cast eerie shadows into the corners of the chamber. Of course, we had to draw the door tightly shut, lest even a tiny splinter of light escape. The only luxury we allowed ourselves were flashlights, so that Frances could successfully climb up the tree and Kameron could pick his way down to the compound. We had already found the rough trail a day before, going as close as we dared before turning back. The trail had been marked – a bent twig here, a speared leaf there, nothing that would catch the eye of anybody from the compound below.

And for all our watching, we had seen no sign of Loki.

Grumbling a little, Coral fetched her paperback again and bounced on the airbed from the other side, desperately trying to dethrone Rowan. No such luck, he merely grinned at her wickedly.

I sighed. "You do know that is Kam and my bed? And if you break it I'm going to make you share it with the good Doctor, Rowan." It was also the bed with the best lighting, hence its use as a trampoline.

"Oh, I'm sure the Doc wouldn't complain too hard," Rowan replied, "I'm quite a good bed mate."

"I'm sure you are," I was too edgy to argue. All of what could go wrong was buzzing through my head. It appeared my imagination was a bit too vivid, and overly paranoid. I sat on the floor beside Coral, and she patted me on the shoulder, I smiled at her. Pearl crawled into my lap, apparently sensing my impending depression.

"He'll be fine," Coral said encouragingly. But I could not believe her.

We ate a desultory snack of bread and jam, amusing ourselves by tossing scraps of food at Azriel, who was quite adept at catching them in his mouth. Then Rowan delved into his backpack of many tricks and brought out a pack of cards. It was a standard pack of cards, with the four standard suits – water, grass, fire and earth, and each card depicted an illustration of one of those types of Pokemon. We played a few simple games, dealing out a third of the pack to each of us. Then we would each deal out the top card, face up, and the person with the highest number would win. If two numbers came out the same, then the two combatants would place two more cards face down, and the final face up, and the highest of those would win. The winner was the person who got the entire pack. We also played a variant in which the winning element won the cards, but when three players were involved that was rather complicated, like playing paper-scissors-rock with three people.

After a while we tired of that and played some different games, but it could not alleviate my sense of forboding. 

After some time, I glanced at my watch and saw it was time for me to keep watch, and so Maki and I scrambled up the tree, allowing Frances the chance to come inside and have a cold drink. We had nothing hot, alas, but it was summer, and the air was mild.

As I sat on the broad branch, overlooking the valley, I understood why the males had complained. It was extremely painful on my derrière, not to mention that staring through binoculars for any period of time makes your head and arm throb. So, I shall dwell in my misery and inform you of what events had overtaken Kameron.

*

__

(Right well, back to me I guess… Does anyone get sick of these constant author changes, whilst we retain the first person perspective? Nope, good! Just checking. It would be a heckuva lot more boring if it were only written from Kat's perspective , wouldn't it?)

The traipse down the hillside was far from pleasant. The air was damp, and humid. Strange noises filled the air with a distance cacophony. The hooo-hooo of the Australian Hoot-hoot, the drone of insects out in the warm night. Everything seemed so peaceful. Darkness enshrouded me, save for the tiny beam of my flashlight and the small shape of Fenrill, as she dived and darted through the trees, always returning to me. I could not see Shadeon, but I could feel her. Not physically, but in my head, there was a cold longing that I knew belonged to her. I doubted that anybody, except maybe Foxfire, truly understood Shadeon the way I could. She desperately wanted, needed to be loved. From the moment she had seen us, seen the love Kat bestowed upon her Maki, seen the way we treated our Pokemon, she had wanted to be loved too. But alas for poor Shadeon, she was feared by many. We loved her, and I suspected Azriel might have a crush on her, but she still always wanted to please us. Even when she got things a little muddled and did the wrong thing… The cold longing was like her psychic fingerprint. We all had them. Fenrill's and Kat's were similar – fierce dedication, Rowan's, well, Rowan's is best not talked about… Longing, definitely… and as for Doctor Frances. He too felt a bit on the outside, was jealous of the camaderie shared by Kat and I, as well as Sam, Jimi and Rowan now. Even though he was a part of our group, he felt aside from it. 

Anyway, I slipped and slid a bit, as I made my way down the ravine, trying to follow the trail of "breadcrumbs" we had left earlier. After a time the trees began to thin out and I could see the bright lighting of the compound about 200 metres away. The land between there and here was open, completely exposed. Anyone pursuing the compound would see anyone crossing the distance and there was no cover anywhere. I had come as far as I could go. Now was the time to release the Pokemon for their exploration. I crouched down, in the shelter of the trees, and hugged Shadeon. Her nose was cool against my ear, but she did not breathe. She had no need to, being a shade and all. I kissed her on the forehead, glad that Rowan was not around to watch it and make smart comments. I felt a psychic blush emanating from her. 

Fenrill drifted down. "_I will make a connection between your mind and Shadeon's eyes,"_ she sent, _"so that you will be able to follow her every move and see what she sees."_

I nodded, feeling somewhat awed and a little nervous. This sounded pretty dramatic indeed! 

__

"And I will try to pinpoint where in the building the human captive's are kept. After that however, we must return to the campsite. I do not wish for any heroism yet."

"I was not planning on any," I agreed, as Shadeon disappeared into the long shadows cast by the spot lights. Fenrill transformed herself into a Zubat and followed. I had not known Zubat lived in swamps, but I suppose some did. There were insects there, after all.

Although the encampment was covered in light, there were still shadows, long shadows that Shadeon could travel through, unseen, unheard.

As an extra precaution (because you never knew when someone might sneak up on you), I called Lucifer out from his Pokeball. He seemed somewhat intimidated by the dark shadows, and huddled close to me, his warmth and companionship a welcome. If anyone came close to us, he would alert me.

Or at least I hoped he would.

I learned back against a tree, closing my eyes so that I could open my other senses, and see through Shadeon's mind.

__

The lot just through the fence smelt of humans, of sweat and a little of fear. There was a sort of practical uncertainity in the air. Something I suspected might be felt by people who knew the person giving the orders was a psychopathic madman, but also knew that if he were to win the war they damned well wanted to be on his side! Shadeon picked her way across the encampment, traversing the long dark shadows as easily as though she were shadow herself. She paused outside one of the small huts, standing on her hindlegs so that she, and I, could see what was within. It was pretty simple lodgings – a bunk bed, a chest, a desk. Obviously the lodgings of someone who went elsewhere for all their ablutions and to eat. Maybe some sort of guard, I wondered.

Suddenly she heard footsteps, and stepped back into the shadows, dissolving into them as though they were no longer there (although understand this is speculation – I was seeing through her eyes, so I could not see what she was actually doing). Shortly a man came around the corner, with a rather large Houndoom on a chain. The dog came unnerving close, so close that she could see its flaring nostrils and smell the carrion on its breath, but to it she would smell like nothing more then dust. The two passed by without drawing any attention.

After they had gone, Shadeon stepped forth again, and was then struck with a predicament. For fifteen feet or so – the gap between this building and the larger central building, the light was intense and there was no way to circumnavigate it. This put her in trouble. Although she could cross light (it would make her smaller and weaker) for a few seconds she would be visible. And once across the only shadow was that of the archway before the main door into the building. It was an olden style building, the sort that appears to have been modified from something else. In this case, perhaps an aircraft hanger was an accurate description.

Glancing upwards, the shadow eevee caught the eye of Fenrill, flapping about making high pitched squeaking noises that were audible to Shadeon, but not to humans. She was chasing the insects attracted by the lights. 

Finally, preparing herself, Shadeon glanced left and right, then dashed across the compound. Her feet pounded on the ground as she strove for the patch of darkness, the artificial light touching her fur, feeling not unlike stepping into a bath that was just slightly too hot. And then she was across, and happily became intangible once more.

After a pause she investigated the lock – more for our privilege then her own. It was a keypad, with a slit to swipe your card through, and then numbers you had to enter. That was a bad sign. We had no card, and Maki, as skillful as he was, could not pick that kind of lock!

Then Shadeon stepped through the door.

It is rather an unnerving sensation to be in the mind of something that can pass through solid objects, I shall just add. For a moment there everything went very, very dark and I could feel the claustrophobia enwrapping me like a very tight shroud. And then we were in a short corridor. To the left was another door with a keypad, and to the right was something that boded even less well. It looked similar to the other keypad, except that beside it was not a slit for a card, but a small flat screen, which presumerably you pressed your hand against.

We could, perhaps, steal a card, but there was no way we could steal a hand. Not ethically anyway. When Shadeon passed through that door I felt resistance. Not powerful resistance, just like trying to crawl through treacle. The door was wooden on the outside, but braced with metal on the inside, and the hinges would be mighty. It could hardly be broken down without causing a massive amount of noise and leaving a trail that anyone could follow.

The corridor beyond was unremarkable, just long and white, with the walls all polished and gleaming. There was artificial lighting here too, which made Shadeon increasingly nervous. She ducked and darted from one tiny patch of shadow to the next.

I noticed the video camera a moment too late – although surely I should have been expecting it. It was focused directly on the middle of the hallway, and because it was targetted at human intruders, I could only hope that Shadeon was too low down to be caught beneath its gaze.

As she padded through the hallways, she stopped to look at the doors, but although there were words on them, they were not words I could understand. Shadeon had a different way of looking at letters then I did – instead of seeing them as individual objects, looking downwards, she saw them across, so that to me they were just gobblegook. I understood that some Pokemon could read. Alas, Shadeon was not one of them. 

There were odd scents in the hallway. The bitter smell of fear seemed to have permeated everywhere, even here. Some of the doors smelt worse then others of it. The hair along the Shadeon's spine stood on end. She padded to the end of the hallway where there was another door – this time with no sort of key or lock on it at all. She could not step through this one – it was too well lit, but when she pushed herself against it, it opened, and she squeezed through. The room beyond was entirely in darkness. A voice said, loudly;

"Please state access code." Which made us both jump, but it was a mechanical voice. So, this lock was voice-operated. Things just kept getting more and more complicated. Obviously they had big secrets to hide beyond here!

Shadeon stepped through the door. Instantly, an alarm went off. She jumped, leaping into the shadows (which were longer here, I don't know why), and diffusing. After a time a group of people, clad in black and looking rather daunting, came down the hallway, carrying flashlights. These they shone into all the dark shadows. Shadeon crept through the shadows, trying to remain behind them, but the way they were scouring the hallway meant that eventually she was pushed into a small dark corner.

The beam passed over her, and she froze, unable to diffuse, the beam was so bright. Soon it highlighted her, crouching there, a small dark shape no larger then an Eevee.

"What have we here?" One of the black clad men said, "looks like one of His pets has escaped." He barely suppressed a shudder. 

After a pause, he made some motions with his hands, and kept Shadeon pinned in the torchlight. When she tried to move, to sneak around the light into the shadow beyond, he merely manouvered the light. It was a very strong light, for even in sunlight Shadeon could still diffuse to shadow. The light was burning her now – it had gone beyond a minor heat and was starting to feel as though it were to scorch off her fur. She whimpered, and lunged at the man bearing the torch.

He swung it at her, catching her across the chin, shattering her jaw. She did not bleed – Shadeon was not alive, persay, but the agony rocketed through her head and she tumbled to the ground, pinned by the light. Her jaw, her jaw no longer worked! 

There was nothing I could do but remain there, watching through her eyes. He had said "His pets," that implied that Loki (there could be no other "He") had created more of the Poke-shades. That was, obviously bad news for us. We would need to get our hands on fire and light Pokemon – if Loki were creating such an army. We could not pull Shadeon out just yet. Even though Fenrill could most likely get in there, and if she got in with Shadeon's Pokeball she could recall the Shadow Eevee. But for the meantime, we would have to leave Shadeon where she was, since she would be in a position to observe much.

It was an unpleasant situation – I could sense Shadeon's pain, sense her confusion and her anguish, but I could not relieve it. 

"_Do you want me to withdraw her?"_ Fenrill's voice materialised in my head. 

"Yes," I whispered, "but you can't, not yet, we have to see where they take her. But be ready to intervene."

"_Certainly," _Fenrill replied, and then the voice, and her presence was gone and I was dragged back to Shadeon's awareness. In my lap Lucifer shuddered uneasily, licking my face.

__

The men returned, the men of pain, and they brought with them a glass box. Shadeon drew back, trying to snarl around the remains of her jaw, but failed – the injury was too great. She backed up against the wall as the glass box was slammed over her. Lunging, she met only with solid, unrelenting glass. Were she not in bright light she could diffuse through it, but here her powers were weak, and she was helpless, impotent.

One of the humans crouched down, inserting something into the bottom of the box and sliding it across. It hit Shadeon in the leg, quite gently, and she backed up. It pushed against her, moving with her until she was backed into the corner, unable to move anywhere but to step up on the glass plate they had slid in. Now she was incarcerated on all six sides. Taking care to hold the glass cage in the light as much as possible, the humans picked it up and carried it as though she weighed little more then a feather.

Indeed, in this form she did. Even in a solid state, she weighed less then an Eevee, so much less that even when she threw herself from one side of her confinement to another, the container did not even shake. 

I watched through her eyes, feeling the panic and the one thought that fleeting so vividly in her mind.

"Why do they not help me? Why do they not pull me out?"

And I wanted to, I wanted to then, to rescue her and perhaps try another reconnaissance later, but it was too risky. Even this one was too risky and if they had other Shadow Pokemon, I needed to find out. Because we would have to fight them, and after the Diaboleon experience, I did not want to fight another Shadow Pokemon as long as I lived.

There was no Solareon here, after all.

__

The trap was carried down a hallway, and then up a flight of stairs. At the top was a door, in which another finger print test was required. The security here was amazing. Only two people entered the room, the others remaining outside. They seemed nervous – and it was easy to see why.

For inside were rows and rows of glass cages, each of them illuminated brightly. And in those cages were Pokemon. But they were not typical Pokemon, but Australian breeds. I did not recognise the species myself, but I saw in there those that resembled Sandshrew, Eevee, and several other typical species. In one corner, the brightest were a couple of cages containing what I easily recognised as Shadow Pokemon. The others were all normal types, albeit some were in terrible condition. It was fairly obvious what was happening here. Loki was building an army.

But the captives were not here. What were they doing with the humans they had taken? What evil scheme did they have in plan for them?

There was only one way to find out. Watch, and wait.

Shadeon's box was placed beneath the floodlights, and the pain spasmed through her. through both of us. The light was so bright, so vivid, that it may her immediately as weak as a kitten.

~Fenrill,~ I called mentally, ~Shadeon's trapped and I can't see the humans. You'll have to go in!~

"_Show me the room,"_ she replied, "_and I shall go there."_

I could not tell what she was doing – possibly assuming the form of a Rattata and entering via the air ducts, for I do not think it was possible for her to teleport inside the institute. It was Psy-shielded, somehow. I concentrated on picturing the room in my head as best I could. And a moment later I heard her voice again.

__

"Okay, I am inside. I shall investigate. You should return to the camp and tell them what has happened."

~What about Shadeon?~

__

"Hide the ball as close to the perimeter as is possible. Show me the spot and I shall retrieve her."

I nodded, and prepared a small hole for the Pokeball, disguising it with leaves and moss. I could do no more. Grimly, I made my way back towards the campsite.

* * *

(_Back to Kat again now)_

My limbs ached, as I lowered myself from my perch and onto terra-firma again. Rowan sighed as I alerted him to the fact it was his turn to tree sit. With much relief I made my way into the tent and stretched out full length. My back throbbed and I felt as though all the skin had been worn from the backs of my legs. Frances snored quietly in one corner, but Coral was still reading her novel by the light of the small lamp. She was nibbling on one of Fenrill's chocolate bars.

"There's one Mew that would be most unhappy if she caught you," I commented, sitting beside her.

She grinned. "Oh, I brought this one myself – I wouldn't dream of stealing hers! How's things?"

"Cold," I replied, "and cramped. I can't understand why we haven't made you go out there yet."

"Rowan said I wasn't well enough to," she replied, "but I feel bad cos you guys are out there doing all the work and I'm in here, reading books. Why is he treating my like I'm breakable?"

"I have no idea," I confessed, "I'd say I thought he fancied you, but Rowan doesn't act like that around girls he fancies, at least not that I know of. Usually he just flirts incessantly and makes smarmy comments."

Maki yawned and stretched out on my back, in his favourite (and most annoying) sleeping position. 

"That's what puzzled me too," Coral replied, "he's being so nice. Too nice. I can't help but think that maybe he resents me in some way."

"Rowan is not known for his subtlety, if he resented you he would make it blatantly obvious – like he does where Kameron is involved. No, I think maybe he has a crush on you, but doesn't want to scare you."

"Why would he have a crush on me?" She asked. "I'm not anyone great or interesting."

I sighed, "trust me Coral, you're interesting and pretty smart and you may not have saved the world several times, but that doesn't make you a boring person! Rowan'd be lucky to get someone like you."

She shrugged, "well… He could stop treating my like I'm helpless!"

"He could, and will. Trust me. If you want to sit up in that tree, then you can take my next shift and I promise not to complain about it one bit!"

Coral chuckled, "well, since you put it like that! You know, I see the way you and Kam look at one another, the way you seem to share so much with just a gaze, a smile and a few words, makes me wish I could find someone like that."

"Kameron and I had to go through a lot of trials to get where we are now," I replied, "but I love him implacably, and trust him beyond measure. He and I are almost like the same person. Its scary."

"It must be wonderful," she said wistfully. 

"Oh, it'll happen to you one day," I replied, "I was just lucky I found my man so young. Most people take years. Look at Doctor Frances!"

"Yeah," Coral grinned. "Anyhow, what's the plan?"

"We wait until Kameron reports back, and then come up with a way to rescue your friend and everyone else," I explained. "Then we have to try to find Fenrill's last sister. So, whatcha reading?"

She displayed the cover for me, it had the words "Quest for Lemuria" across the top and a strange looking animal on the cover. It looked a little like Maki, but was brown and had weird hands. "It's pretty good," she admitted, "even though I've never heard of any of the animals. I think the author made them up."

"Romance?"

"Nah, not really. From what I've gathered the author, Angela, has written romance into other books. She's not bad, you should read it sometime."

"I might indeed," I replied, "when I've stopped all this saving the world business." I flipped through a few pages. It sounded interesting, but the light in here was terrible for reading, so I put it aside. "Anyway, whatcha going to do about Rowan?"

She blushed, "guess I'll just wait and see what happens."

"He's a nice enough guy," I grinned, "if a little bit goofy sometimes. I've been his friend forever." We were interrupted then by Kameron's return back at the site, staggering in through the entranceway.

He took one look at me, his face worn and weary, not from physical exertion but from psychic torment and I immediately wrapped my arms around him, kissing him quickly and reassuringly. He need not say anything – his face explained it all. Something had gone terribly wrong.

"Shadeon," he whispered, "they caught her. And Fenrill's sneaking in to investigate further." I nodded, dragging him down with me onto the double bed and shooing Coral away. She retired to her stretcher, propped against the other wall. We lay together for a bit, not exchanging any words as I simply held him and tried to rid him of his psychological anguish. Finally, it appeared, he was ready to talk.

"How did they catch her?" I asked, stroking his dark brown-black hair.

"They must have known," he replied, "they have shadow Pokemon there. Loki has been busy, but I sensed deeper torment there." A shudder raked his body and his next comment was said in a low whisper, so as to evade Coral's hearing. "And I suspect they are doing similar to the humans."

I stiffened, and could not hide my gasp. Coral was instantly alert. "What, what are they doing with Kate?" She asked, concern creasing her features.

"Er, I'm not sure," Kameron replied, "but it is not good, not good at all."

I slapped him on the arm, in a friendly enough fashion. "Great, now you've got her worried."

"At least he's saying it like it is," her voice was hoarse, "and not pretending everything will be alright. We have to go in there and save them!"

"Easier said then done," my boyfriend replied, "they have security in there beyond what I would think was entirely necessary."

"We still have to do it," Coral was stubborn, like myself.

"Of course we do, we have to rescue Shadeon too!"

"How many hours of the night would you say we have left?"

Kameron glanced at his watch. "It's 12.45," he replied, "man, I was only out there, what 2 hours…. Anyway, we've still got six hours until dawn."

"Plenty of time." Coral stood up, dragging on her black sweater, "let's go!"

"One of us should stay here to keep watch," Kameron pointed out.

Coral glared at him. "Well, don't look at me, I'm going. Er, why don't you make the doctor stay behind?"

"We can't, he has the Porygon."

"Well, I can take Murphy, you know, I'm not completely helpless or useless." Even when she was speaking such she still sounded fairly meek and mild. 

"Very well," Kameron replied, "do you want to get any sleep?"

She shook her head. "Nope, can't sleep, my friend is in trouble and I'm worried sick about her. Come on, let's go now."

I nodded in approval, and scooped up Maki, who was watching common garden moths flit around our Hurricane lamp.

"Maki-maki!" He protested, before scampering up onto my shoulder and grooming my hair. I removed my Pokeballs from my backpack – Dragosi, Chiko, Florion, Flora I released but reprimanded to stay with the Doctor. She simply yawned sleepily and curled up on my pillow.

"Planning on leaving me behind, eh?" Doctor Frances murmured, blearily opened his eyes. I looked a little sheepish. 

"Err, we need you to stay here and watch the campsite," I replied, "if you go up the tree, you can warn us, via Fenrill, if you see anything suspicious."

"I aren't all that old," he replied, "I can deal with some excitement myself. Remember Poland?"

"Yes, Doc, but someone has to stay here and Coral won't, Kameron is needed and I think Rowan would object to us taking Coral and leaving him behind, so I'm afraid my default, you have to stay here. You never know, something bad might happen to the camp."

"Here's hoping, eh?" He asked wryly. "Very well, I see I've been outvoted again. Well, you're be needing this." He flicked a Pokeball at us. Coral caught it. "This is Murphy. You have to get him into the system somehow, I would recommend that you release him into the door lock, provided of course it is electronic."

"It is. But the fence is electric."

"Then you will just have to fly – or bribe Maki to do it."

"Maki-makiki-mur!" My little Makimur required no bribing, he loved unlocking doors.

"Well then, I guess I'm going up the tree then. Good luck and all that. Don't forget to call Fenrill when you get closer."

"Yep, we'll set up a communication system via the Mew," I nodded. "Come on, the night is growing old."

A short time later the four of us made our way towards the barrier fence, Maki clinging excitedly to my shoulder. Whilst we walked, Kameron detailed what he had discovered earlier, and we all listened grimly. Things did not sound as simple as I would have liked. We just had to hope that Murphy would work as required.

Kameron dug up the Pokeball and we called mentally to Fenrill. After a time, she replied.

~Where are you?~ I asked.

"_I found the captives," _she replied, sending me a mental picture of the chamber. It was just a simple room, with a rather chunky looking door, and they sat about in hushed silence on narrow benches. There were maybe a dozen there altogether, each wearing the same grim looking expression. One, I noticed in particular, was a young girl, a few years our junior, with shoulder-length brownish-red hair. She sat on the bench, hugging her knees. There was no conversation.

This, I gathered, must be Kate, since she fitted the description Coral had given us. The others were older, ranging in age from about fifteen to thirty, although there were none noteably older then that. Obviously Loki had been somewhat picky in those he had chosen. I wondered what fate decreed for them.

~Do they know what is to happen to them?~ I asked, engaged in telepathic communication.

"_Only that it is bad, and once taken, they never return," _she replied.

I shuddered. 

"What?" Coral asked, picking up on my not-so-subtle body language.

"We have to save your friend," I stated, "and the others. Otherwise things could get rather nasty for them."

She nodded, but looked pale. "Well then, what are we waiting for."

~Fenrill, can you get us into the yard? We need to get in as swiftly as possible without raising their suspicions.~

"_Very well. Firstly, distract the guards. The moment they are out of your sight, I shall teleport you to the other side of the fence. I cannot teleport you within the building – they have some sort of shield about it. Only the upper part of the fence is electrocuted."_

"Right, Maki," I called my Makimur over and handed him the Pokeball. He already knew how to operate them, he picked up things fast. The Pokeball was in its standard tiny size.

Then I drew out another Pokeball. "Dragosi, I want you to move silently to the other side of the compound and distract the Houndoom. Dark Pokemon despise Psychic types."

"Goooo?" 

"Yes, go now." 

Kameron drew out one of his balls, releasing Marill. "Take Marril with you, if you get into trouble, remember, Houndoom are part fire-type!"

"Marillie!" Marill clambered onto Dragosi's head and squatted between the Dragon-Fly's antennae. With a whir of wings he was gone. We could not see nor hear him. He had cloaked himself somehow.

"Right Maki, do your stuff!" I hissed, as barking and shouting erupted from the far side of the compound. Holding the Pokeball tight, Maki squeezed between the wire of the fence and dashed across the yard. We watched with baited breath as he scrambled on three hands across the light patches, then sprang up easily onto the cardpad, releasing the Porygon from his ball and into the electronics of the building.

Nothing happened for the longest moment. Then, suddenly, all the lights went off.

~Fenrill now!~ I shrieked with my mind.

"_I'm right here!"_ And Fenrill's familiar shape floated above us, there was a brief flickering in the darkness, and we found hardened mud beneath our feet instead of leaf litter. "_Now go through the door, I think you will find it opens! I shall see how Murphy is faring."_

And then she was gone again.

All four of us bolted across the courtyard, Rowan easily reaching it first, since I was still limping and Kameron still had some difficulties breathing if he over exerted himself. Coral was not far behind him. The door opened easily, just as every light in the place blinked on and the door started screeching.

"Holy frith! They've got a bloody back up system!" Kameron shouted. "This way!" And he ran in the opposite direction from the high security area, and down a tiled hallway. Doors were scattered along it at random intervals, and seemingly picking one at random, he pushed it open and we all hurried in.

It was a broom closet. 

Pressed tightly together, we sat in the darkness, trying to hide our ragged breathing and waiting for Murphy to work its way into the back-up system. After what felt like an eternity the horrible screeching stopped, and with a whirr and a hiss, the sprinkler system came on.

There was the sound of footsteps pounding past us in the hall.

So much for getting in quietly… Well, we were in. Now the hardest part was ahead of us…

Kameron wrapped his arms about me and whispered in my ear; "Maki's still out there."

My heart froze. I swear, it stopped beating for a second there, so cold was the chill that shot through it. ~Fenrill,~ I thought fiercely, ~Maki's out there! Find him and hide him!~

Her reply chilled me even further. "_I cannot," _she replied, "_for he has already been found. A man with a broom and tray of cleaning products picked him up and put him in his coat pocket."_

"He's been caught," I hissed back, and was about to make for the door when Kameron grabbed me.

"Be calm, I sense only confusion. Whomever is hiding Maki appears to be doing us a favour. I sense no fear from him."

This did not really reassure me. Kameron must be experiencing an influx of emotions at this point, and I seriously doubted that he could discern one from the other. Our combined fear must surely douse everything else.

"_Do not fear, I have released the Shadow Pokemon and the other ones. That should keep them occupied for a while."_

~Thank you.~ I translated for our companions. 

Rowan chuckled. "That'll be entertaining for them."

Given what Shadow Pokemon were capable of, I hoped they did not mistake us for their torturers. 

Whatever Murphy was doing in the computer system, it must have been extensive, for one minute we had screaming sirens, the next a strange voice came over the intercom system, sounding almost like it was winding down. //_This is not a drill, repeat this is not a drill. Fire is devouring the building. Please make your way to the nearest exit, please make your way to the nearest exit, this is not a drill, this is not a drill.//_

And then, two seconds later, it switched to a radio station running a sports commentary, then to rap artist abusing everybody and anybody then to "Stairway to Heaven".

__

//There's a lady I know all the is gone, and I'm fighting a stairway to heaven…//

It stayed on that for a while. Meanwhile the pounding in the hallway had ceased and it was starting to get uncomfortably hot in the closet. Not to mention that Rowan had put his hand on my knee and I badly wanted to bat it away.

"Control yourself," I hissed.

"Sorry," he replied, snatching his hand away as though I had burnt him. I wondered if he'd even known it had been my knee. And Kameron, pressed up close behind me, was beginning to distract me. Okay, so I'm sixteen, leave me alone!

"Let's get out of here and find Maki," I replied, "I think they'll be distracted a while."

I felt Kameron nod and sensed that he was becoming likewise distracted. At a word from me, Rowan eased open the door, and peered outside into blessed darkness. Luckily, thanks to the PA, Led Zeppelin would drown out any noises we might make. We just had to hope that the lights did not suddenly and dramatically come on, pinpointing us like a rattata in a maze. Okay, so I'm not much good at similies at the moment… leave me alone, I'm under stress!

Tiptoeing silently, Kameron led us further down the hallway, away from where we entered. I could not understand how this would help us find the prisoners, since we were it appeared, heading in the wrong direction. From one room came the drone of a dozen computers simultaneously downloading huge game demos, and another collection rebooting themselves. From another came the drone of a television changing channels every second, closely followed by cursing and thumping. Murphy, it appeared, was having a field day. I began to wonder if we would actually be able to extract him from the system at all.

Suddenly Kameron touched me on the shoulder and pointed to the left, where there was a short corridor. I nodded, and headed in that direction, the others following.

A moment later came a shout and something small and fast bounded down the hallway, a white-clad man in hot pursuit.

~Fenrill, what is happening to the prisoners?~

__

"The door to their room is electronic, and it has opened and slammed shut twice. Now they are holding it open with a broken seat. They cannot escape, however, as a dozen men are holding them back, armed with weapons."

~Can you help us get there?~

__

"I can cloak two of you, but the other two would remain obvious. I sense Dragosi is outside. He has destroyed some of the cabins with powerful psywaves. The Houndoom all suddenly turned on the guards and they are," she paused, as though seeking the appropriate words, "_out of commission. Others are trying vainly to control the electronics system. We cannot do this subtly, and we must be out of here soon. Please, two of you must rescue the prisoners, the others must find my sister's location!" _

I condensed this and explained it hurriedly to my companions. Coral interrupted, "Kat and I will rescue the prisoners, Rowan and Kameron, you must find the computer."

"What?"

"Well, its obvious, the only one of us whom knows anything about hacking is you, Rowan, and the only one who has had anything to do with Team Rocket computers is Kameron – therefore you two have to do the techie stuff and Kat and I will be the valiant rescuers."

I grinned. "She's got it right there, Kam."

Rowan frowned. "But saving the prisoners is going to be dangerous."

"That's why its better us girls do it. Come on Kat, get your Mew to come and hide us."

~Fenrill, we need you,~ I called.

Kameron squeezed me and kissed me quickly. Rowan reached out for Coral, and she scowled at him, "this is not the time or place!" He drew back, looking somewhat startled. It seemed we had managed to bring the extrovert out in her, at least temporarily.

The Mew materialised before us. "_I am glad I have eaten so much chocolate," _she grinned, "_for I fancy I shall need it afore the night is through. As it appears I am the only way your prisoners are to make it to the outside world."_

"We thank you," I replied, "now make us invisible or something."

"_I already have."_

"Oh…"

"_It will last only as long as you do not physically touch someone. The moment you do that you will pop into few. I shall follow you. I can teleport within the building, but not outside it, so you must get all the prisoners outside before we can cross the fence. I shall drop us off at a nearby village."_

~And Doctor Frances?~

__

"Is waiting outside the fence for us."

I nodded, everything was, mostly going as planned. Coral and I snuck through the corridor, following the mental promptings of Fenrill. We reached the handprint door, and Fenrill pressed her paw against the pad, and it swung open. When we entered the chamber with the voice recognition lock, a strangely male voice suddenly erupted from the air. "Doctor Frank Malone," and the door swung open.

__

"Pretty neat trick, huh?" Even though I was no empath, I could tell that the Mew radiated satisfaction.

The corridor beyond was bathed in light, light that flickered on and off continuously, in a strobe-light fashion, making it very hard to see. Fenrill "yelled" at us to step aside, and we pressed ourselves against the wall just as two lab-coated men hurried past, carrying guns. We continued onwards feeling decidedly edgy. I was still worrying about Maki. 

At several other intervals we were instructed to step aside as shadowy forms darted past, disappearing into the shadows, or solid enough Pokemon bolted in front of us. Sometimes they were under pursuit by scientists, some armed, but none paid us and heed at all. Whatever Fenrill had done, it was working.

That did not stop my heart steam-hammering everytime anyone came too close to us, and I was sure they could hear my heartbeat, pounding madly in my chest. Coral was not much better, I could see she was visibly shaking.

~Fenrill, can you get Dragosi to return to Doctor Frances and teleport him to safety? Then there is one less of us to worry about.~

"_The village is but ten kilometres away, I am sure he has the skill to move them that far."_

~Good.~ Then inspiration struck me. ~See if he can convince the local police force or army or whatever that there is trouble brewing here, big trouble.~

I could almost sense her grin. "_Kataryna, I like your train of thought!"_

We reached a heavy door. It was surrounded by more of the men in lab-coats and I saw a splintered bench sticking out of it. This must be the prison. I nudged Coral. "It is time to cause some mayhem," I said with a grin, releasing Chiko, Florion and Flora.

She grinned in response, unleashing her Sycther, her Growlithe and her Pidgeotto in a flurry of feathers and fur.

Things got very untidy for a moment there, and a bullet rang out, ricocheting off Mecha's metal feathers and burying itself in the wall. Mecha flapped his wings, metal feathers impaling some of the lab-coated guards and forcing them to flee. Slzer slashed amongst them. They shot blindly, swinging their guns at their attackers. The ground was slick from the water still spraying from the sprinklers, which whirred and clicked, and Coral and I carefully forced our way past the chaos and into the prison. As we were entering, we were suddenly pushed back by a sea of people coming out. Apparently the chaos outside had led them to believe they could escape. Of course, the moment they hit us, we become visible, but luckily were lost in the hoards.

Almost.

"Coral!" Someone cried, Kate I assumed, and threw herself bodily into her friend's arms. All eyes would have turned on us – if it weren't for the fact that complete anarchy was raging. Flora, for all her young age and small size, was clambering up the jeans of the scientists and stinging them, whilst her father sent razor-edged leaves swirling around the room in concert with Mecha's razor edged feathers. All in all, we had to duck and dive to avoid being hit ourselves. Coral took Kate by the arm and led her down the corridor, just as one of the guards managed to push Slzer aside and shoot after them, his bullets mostly harmlessly bouncing off the walls.

Slzer began spinning, becoming a green blur, as he began his swords dance attack. I sent the other prisoners after Coral, Fenrill bobbing in front of them like a small pink beacon. One of them open-fired on me, but missed, because Firestorm engulfed him with flame. Flora finished it up by biting him on the ankle, then sprang onto my shoulder, getting halfway, before scrabbling up my jacket.

"Florreee!" She shrieked delightedly, unleashing a volley of poison stings at one of the scientists.

"Follow me guys!" I shouted, and bolted down the corridor, my grass Pokemon following whilst Firestorm engulfed the group in flame.

The fire alarm went off again, with a deafening roar.

*

(_Now lets cut to the boys again, Kameron once more)_

Sirens continued to erupt from every part of the building. We managed to make our way back to the computer room, pretty much undetected, and had just closed the door behind us, when there was a small cough.

I think I jumped out of my skin – whomever it was had remained nicely undetected from my empathy. Although, truth be told, the air was clouded with confusion, panic, anger and terror that I seriously could not separate one from the other and had thus shut them all out. Someone grinned at us, his face sickly in the light of a computer screen.

"I knew you'd come," he said, "the moment the chaos started, I knew it was you. And then I found this wee fellow."

I heard a muffled "Makimur!"

"Maki! You found Maki!"

"Oh yes, the question is, how much do you value him."

My hand immediately slid to my Pokeball. "Enough to fight you to the death, James," I snarled. I had Azriel in my hand, all set to go. 

James leaned back, grinning nonchalantly. "Your little Pokemon are so pathetically weak," he said, "seriously, you should move away from the cute and cuddly."

"James," I said slowly, seriously, "has anybody told you that you speak an awful lot like Loki?"

"Not recently," he said, "nope, not recently at all, but I suppose Loki is just a little bit beyond me now."

Rowan was looking puzzled. He brought one Pokeball up. Ready to throw it.

There was something wrong, I could sense it. It looked like James, it sounded like James, but I was damned if it was acting like James. James had helped us, once, and he was well renowned for being somewhat wimpy.

"You've changed Jamie," I said, grinning, "in fact, I'm not even sure you're you anymore."

Suddenly the man's eyes glowed red, and something extreme erupted in my head. A great splitting agony that set my soul on fire. Suddenly my thoughts were filled with nothing but painful memories, when Kat thought I had betrayed her, the thought of losing her, the thought of my own death, which I had come so close to on so many occasions.

I'm ashamed, but I must confess it. I fell to the ground, clutching my head.

Rowan, luckily, was quicker on the uptake. He simply reached out and struck the light switch.

With a flicker, the room was illuminated and the man that wasn't quite James shrunk back, pulling his hood over his eyes. The eyes were strange, glowing.

"Mercury, go!" Rowan shrieked and the Ninetails leapt into action. She spun a wall of flame at James, before I had the chance to remind him that Maki was with the man. Whatever the beast was, it was certainly not James. Flames engulfed the cloak and the man unleashed an ungodly scream, before the cloak fell to the floor.

Finding some strength beyond myself, I threw myself onto the burning cloak and quickly bet out the flames, disentangling a rather disgruntled Maki. He was a grass type, and weak against fire, and it showed. His fur had melted off him in patches, and his skin was blistering. Leaving the horrors of the room to Rowan to deal with, I darted into the back room, which fortunately contained a sink, and quickly bathed the poor Makimur's injuries. Something which did not please him any the better. It could have been a lot worse – I think the coat must have protected him and he must have put some sort of shield around himself, because apart from superficial burns, he was otherwise alive and irritated.

It was then I decided I should help Rowan, and turned back to the room. Hovering in the air, looking fairly small and extremely shadowy, was an almost carbon copy of Fenrill, except that its fur was black and some of its features were a little… odd… Its eyes blazed red. Rowan was pressed up against a wall, Mercury holding it back with a fireshield.

"Maki," I shouted, "do you have any energy left? It's weak against light!"

"Maki!" His fur patchy and still steaming, he jumped on my shoulder and his own eyes blazed golden. A burst of pure white light sprayed from his forehead, which struck the beast and knocked it to the ground. It lay there stunned for a moment, and I had to intervene, but there was only one thing I could think to do…

I brought out Shadeon's Pokeball, specially designed to hold Shadow Pokemon, and I flung it at the fallen creature. The light engulfed it, and swallowed it.

"I, I caught a…" I paused, "strange monstrosity." I carefully put the ball in my pocket.

Rowan was shaking, and the curtains, drawn against the moonlight, were on fire. "What the hell was that?" He exclaimed.

"I don't know, and I don't want to mess around finding out. Come on, let's get what we came for and get out of here!"

"Umbreee!" Azriel, whom must have jumped out of his Pokeball on his own free will, was batting at something. It looked like a Pokeball, except that it was a glossy black and silver colour. It lay amongst the charred remnants of the cloak.

"That thing dropped this," I replied, puzzled, and investigated it in the light. It had a button on it, just like normal Pokeballs, and the button was lit, saying it was occupied.

"I think we should, err, do something about the curtains," Rowan pointed out, and for once I was in agreement. Luckily there was a bathroom nearby – I guess these people really did not like leaving their computers for long, and we managed to extinguish the flames. There were no sprinklers in here, probably because of all the electronic equipment.

Maki curled up in my pocket and fell asleep. I just hoped Kat wasn't too mad at me for letting him get scorched. Whilst Rowan sat at the computer, finally finding one that wasn't doing random and chaotic stuff, I fiddled with the ball. What was in it? Why was a Pokemon carrying a Pokeball? How had the Pokemon assumed the form of James?

Perhaps it was an accident, or perhaps I subconsciously did it on purpose, but whatever the reason, the button got depressed and suddenly, startlingly, a man appeared on the floor in a tangled mass of limbs. He immediately jumped up defensively. 

"Please don't hurt me!" He squeaked.

I allowed myself a small smile. "Why, hello James, pleased you could join us."

He stood up, looking somewhat embarrassed, something not helped by the fact that he was in his underwear and his boxer shorts had little Teddiursa on them. "Err, hi… I see you, well, made it after all."

"I thought you had left Team Rocket," I replied calmly, sensing his fear like a beacon. "So, I must confess that I can't help wondering what that monster was doing assuming your form."

He gulped. "That monster is the Myura, a terrible hybrid creature created for striking terror and pain and great devastation."

"It wasn't so tough," I replied, moderately lightly, although truth be told, it had scared the bejesus out of me, "and how does a janitor come to know such things?"

He looked a little startled, but it was simple deduction really. The creature was a shape-shifter. James had been cleaning and found Maki, recognising it as Kat's, he had hidden it.

But Fenrill had released all the Shadow Pokemon, and the Myura was amongst them, it had immediately sought out James, probably because he was the most easily frightened human in the building, and captured him assuming his form and taking his clothing.

These balls must be wonderful. I set it aside carefully. A ball that held people could be most useful. And not we had captured the Myura.

"A janitor sees things, gets into places where others do not," he gulped, "the laboratories needed cleaning and people just didn't seem to notice me."

"So, you found out a lot. Do you know where the captive Mew is?"

He glanced at the Pokeball I had captured the Myura in suspiciously. "That has some of her genes."

"I see they tried one step up from MewTwo. Does the Myura know?"

"It wouldn't tell you even if it did," he replied. "It has a wicked temperament. Even the Scientists were frightened by it."

Fenrill must have really been slipping when she had let it out! "We could torture it for information?"

"No use, it feeds on negative emotion. Hurt it and it gets stronger."

"We could spoil it rotten," Rowan suggested, his fingers tapping away madly. "Pleasure it to death."

James sniggered.

"I'll let you do that," I replied. "Since you like pleasuring things so much."

Rowan blushed, he actually blushed! I felt I had achieved something. But there was no time to gloat. "Do you know where the Mew is?"

"I, I think so," he replied.

"Then lets get the hades out of here!" Rowan exclaimed. "Um, how do I get Murphy out?"

"Who cares!" I snapped. The panic in the air was thick enough to cut. "I think we've got to move now… Just leave it here, it'll cope." And then I cursed myself at thinking such things. Kat would kill me. "Murphy! Murphy! Come out again now!"

The image of a Porygon appeared on the screen. It cocked its head at me and quacked, the sound blurting out the speakers. It seemed rather happy. 

Maki tossed a Pokeball at me. There seemed to be a lot of those going around at the moment, making sure it was just one of the ordinary sort (there was no way I wanted to let the Myura out) I recalled the Porygon from the computer. It obliged, but seemed a little disgruntled about affairs in general. I sensed it wanted to play longer.

Pocketing Murphy and the Myura (although I was distinctly unhappy about having something so unpleasant close to me), I handed James my overcoat. It was a huge sacrifice for me to hand over my trench coat, and I felt distinctly uneasy about doing so, but he could hardly go outside in just the boxers.

Now that Murphy was gone, the computer system would gradually restore itself. We must make haste to get out of here, I only hoped that Kat had done as much as was required. I had every faith in her. 

Rowan pocketed a disc, smiling sheepishly. "I found something, although we will have to wait until later to find out quite if it has any relevance. It's encoded."

I nodded, "I just hope we can decode it."

"Course I can," he replied, "I had to do something to keep myself busy back on the island. Anyway, James, would you care to show us the exit?"

Eagerly, James wrapped my trench coat about himself and lead us through a door at the back. 

There was chaos in the courtyard. People running and shouting, dark shapes on their heels, and furtively I saw a large group of people, emanating a sort of grateful fear, huddling in a patch of darkness. I might not have seen them at all, had it not been for the fact I could taste their emotions.

Something batted against my ankles and I looked down into a pair of glowing red eyes.

"_Shaddeee!"_ Shadeon greeted me happily. I stroked her head, which she had made solid for my privilege. At last some of us were back together. I could sense Coral in the group, her psychic print burned in my mind, with another girl, one which radiated optimism and delight. I presumed this was Coral's friend, Kate, and was glad we had achieved one of our goals.

I shuddered, despite the warmth night – I just felt so naked, exposed… Rowan would have laughed had he known. I was thankful he did not. Even though we seemed to have reached some sort of truce, I was no more fond of him then I had been when we had first met. And I could still sense the hatred emanating from his pores. But that was something I would keep to myself. He was Kat's friend, and I had to respect that – even if he was a slimy little worm only out for one thing.

At least he could not read _my _emotions!

James pointed at something, and I saw the flickering shape of Fenrill.

"_You must get together," _she sent to me, "_and I will take us all to safety. It will be the last thing I have the power to do."_

"Where's Kat?" I suddenly cried, completely unable to sense her psychic imprint in the area. Panic rose in me, and I found myself trying to draw my trenchcoat shut, but alas, I was naked and vulnerable.

Well, not _really_ naked, but you know what I mean.

__

"She is fighting back the evil-men," Fenrill replied, "_she has told me to wait for her no longer then is absolutely necessary. Loki is coming. I can sense a darkness that is he."_

"We cannot leave her," I replied, and for once Rowan agreed with me.

I could sense the fear in Fenrill. Even she, cool, calm Fenrill, was terrified of Loki. And no wonder, after what he had done to her sisters. _"I cannot let him capture me! If he captures me, there is only Wild left…"_

She let the words trail off, but I sensed the meaning. Wild might be entire, but she lacked the assertiveness and persistence of the Swamp Mew. If Fenrill were captured, it would spell the end of the Mews, and possibly the end of the world as well.

She would not permit it to happen – even it if meant sacrificing Kataryna. And I could understand her reasoning, but was not about to stand by it. I loved Kat more then life itself, heck, she was my reason for living! And I would not permit anything terrible to happen to her. Suddenly Pokemon erupted from the entrance to the building. A Sycther, its wings a buzzing blur, a Pidgeotto, its feathers flashing silver in the moonlight, a familiar green shape crouching upon its back, and lastly, a great orange dog, coughing flames back down the hallway, whilst the small, bright shape of a chikorita bounded between them.

This then, was there Pokemon, but where was Kat? I found myself craning my neck, sending out my empathy on a desperate search for her. And then Rowan grabbed me by the arm and led me across the courtyard. It was only then I looked up.

A great orange-red shape filled the sky. With one wave of its hand, a lightning bolt erupted from the ground only a few feet from us, connecting with another that scythed downwards from the heavens. The air was filled with the stench of ozone.

Almost unperturbed by this display of Loki's powers, Rowan simply dragged me to the group.

"Beam us up, Fenrill!" He declared.

The Pokemon had joined us, and I could feel Kataryna exiting the building. She was in a hurry, and no doubt the reason why. I struggled, desperate to get to her, to ease her fear and to snatch her away from the torment. Rowan grabbed me about the waist.

"Let me go!" I shrieked, stamping on his foot and lashing out with my psychic powers. Rowan gasped and staggered backwards.

"You expletive deleted," he screeched. "Go and get yourself killed then, see if I care."

It was then I felt the torment pouring off him. He loved Kat as much as I, if in a different way, and it pained him too to leave her here.

A wall of flame suddenly materialised in front of me, the heat searing my eyebrows from my face. My eyes began watering madly, and I flailed, as though trying to beat the fire away. My whole world was an inferno of heat and pain and bittersweet longing.

Then I felt hands grasping me, dragging me back, and although I struggled the breath came raw in my throat and tears streamed down my face. I could not resist and then, suddenly, the world was surrounding by a pinkish film and the heat and darkness were replaced by a warm lightness.

Fenrill had teleported us into the neighbouring village.

"No!" I screamed, flailing and kicking at my restrainer, and then found myself pushed against the floor, a foot pressed between my shoulder blades. Abruptly I ceased struggling.

"It's too late," Rowan said. "But we'll save her, we will. However, we must fall back and prepare, blindly charging in is just going to get us all killed."

"How can you say that? He's a raving madman, capable of all sorts of foul deeds."

"He won't kill her," Rowan explained, and I wondered how he could sound so calm about it, so reassured. "He needs her alive, because he wants the Mews. I suspect he will instigate a trade."

"He is as trustworthy as an Ekans," I growled, "they tried that before, once, and lied, who it to say he will not lie again?"

"Oh, I do not doubt he will, but he won't kill her. Dead she is worthless for his purposes."

"How can you talk like that? So calm and confident." I struggled, but they were feeble.

"Because someone has to be. Now what the heck was it you did to me?"

"I, I dunno…"

"Well, don't do it again, or you'll be sorry."

I crawled to my feet and stared out into the darkness. Somewhere out there was Kataryna, and how I desperately wished I could be with her. If anything happened to her, I would die. Maybe not physically, but I would die inside, hollow and empty.


End file.
